06/10/2008

Biker Killing 'A Thoroughly Cold-Blooded Business'

A biker returning home from a Hell's Angel festival was shot dead not because of who he was but because of what he was, a court has heard.

Gerry Tobin, 35, a mechanic from Mottingham, south-east London, died on August 12 last year, after being hit by a bullet fired from a moving car as it sped along a motorway at up to 90mph.

Prosecutor Timothy Raggatt QC said the killing was "a thoroughly cold-blooded business" calculated down to the finest detail.

Six men deny murder and firearms charges. A seventh has admitted murder.

Mr Raggatt said: "The incident was a thoroughly ruthless one executed with great skill and precision, great timing... and was the product of a great deal of planning.

"It was a thoroughly carefully aimed shot delivered by someone in a vehicle."

Mr Tobin, who was returning from the Bulldog Bash near Stratford-upon-Avon, died instantly from a gunshot to the head.

Addressing the motive for the crime, Mr Raggatt said: "This wasn't a case of a man being killed for any personal motive or any personal reason.

"This was a man who was targeted not because of who he was, but because of what he was. In one sense, Gerry Tobin was a random victim."

Karl Garside, 45, pleaded not guilty to murder during a previous hearing in February. Simon Turner, 41, Dane Garside, 42, Malcolm Bull, 53, Dean Taylor, 47, and 46-year-old Ian Cameron entered their not guilty pleas last December.

Full addresses of the defendants, who are from Coventry, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes, cannot be published for legal reasons.

The trial continues.

(GK/JM)

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