Four men in court over Hell's Angel motorway murder

Four men today appeared in court charged in connection with the murder of a Hell's Angel biker. Simon Turner, 40, Dane Garside, 41 and 43-year-old Sean Creighton, are all charged with the murder of motorcyclist Gerry Tobin on the M40 motorway in Warwickshire on August 12.

Dean Taylor, 45, of Warwick Street, Coventry, appeared alongside them at Nuneaton Magistrates' Court charged with a firearms offence.

Turner, of Vernons Lane, Stockingford, Nuneaton, and Garside of Silverdale Close, Alderman's Green, Coventry and Creighton, of Doncaster Close, Coventry, are also charged jointly with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

The four spoke only to confirm their names at the brief hearing.

Mr Tobin, 35, was shot in the neck whilst riding back with two friends from the Bulldog biker's festival in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire on August 12.

As he reached the M40, a Rover 600 series car pulled out from a layby and followed them along the motorway for a few miles before a gunman opened fire.

Police said three men had been charged with murder and a fourth man had been charged with firearms offences.

All four are in police custody and will appear before magistrates in Nuneaton today.

Mr Tobin had worked as a mechanic at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Mottingham, South London, and lived nearby with his girlfriend, Rebecca Smith, 25.

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Detectives said they were concerned that Mr Tobin's murder could spark a violent feud among biker gangs.

Earlier this week armed officers from Warwickshire Police and West Midlands Police also raided two addresses in Coventry and one property in Nuneaton.

Mr Tobin, who lived in south London, but was originally from Canada, was a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle club, and police believe he may have been targeted by a member of a rival gang.

Last week, his distraught girlfriend Rebecca Smith paid tribute to her partner of five years.

She said: "Gerry was a thinking man, always ready and able to offer guidance and support to others, a true inspiration to many people, a charming personality whose quick-witted humour always kept everyone smiling.

"The nature of his untimely death due to a callous and cowardly act of violence from which it was impossible to defend himself, only accentuates further the pain and suffering that we are all experiencing due to this terrible loss."

The case was adjourned until September 3 when it will be heard at a Crown Court in the region.