In the early hours of Sunday morning a man is laying in bed watching Netflix.
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In most circumstances this would be an unremarkable scene. But on a Central West property on January 14, 2020, it was how the "unsophisticated" execution of a bikie boss played out.
That morning, 60-year-old Shane De Britt, president of the Central West chapter of the Bandidos bikie gang, was killed by a single shot to the head at his home in Eurimbla.
Five men - all members of a social motorbike club who hung out in a Wellington tattoo parlour - were found guilty and are now heading to prison for their involvement in the murder.
'Misfits' take matters into their own hands
Phillip Woods, Brenton Hayes, Jace Harding, Brendan McLachlan and Brian Farnsworth were all members of a motorbike group called the Grudge Bringers.
Supreme Court Justice Dina Yehia said the group was not an outlaw gang but a "motley crew" with a shared interest in riding that at times did "charitable work" in the community.
"The club was made up of a small number of misfits, who were brought together for a variety of reasons, primary amongst them seeking a sense of identity and belonging," she said.
Initially, Mr De Britt was on good terms with the Grudge Bringers, thinking they were a social club and no threat to the Bandidos.
But the relationship began to break down after an altercation involving a Bandidos member at Hayes' Wellington tattoo parlour Menace Ink and suspicions that the Grudge Bringers had claimed the Wellington Hotel as their meet-up joint.
Mr De Britt also became paranoid that a "rat" from Grudge Bringers had tipped off police about the Bandidos' movements.
The escalating tensions made members of the Grudge Bringers irate and afraid - to the point they were ready to take matters into their own hands.
"This is war," Woods, the group's founder, texted members on September 17, 2019.
"If you're ready to pick up a piece and come cap a few, we be good but are you ready to cross that line?"
'C'mon... give me your colours'
In January 2020, Mr De Britt found out that the Grudge Bringers were gathering weapons. He ordered his bikies to strip them of their leather jackets and beat any male member who resisted.
Just days before Mr De Britt's murder, on January 11, the Bandidos chapter's sergeant of arms and secretary-treasurer were among a group of men who targeted one Grudge Bringer at his workplace in Orange.
At about 8:30pm, a female colleague of the Grudge Bringer saw two men hanging around near her car. Fearing they would try to steal it, she asked her colleague to come outside with her and check on it.
When the pair got outside they were approached by secretary-treasurer and three other Bandidos.
They asked the woman to go back inside and approached the Grudge Bringer.
"Give me your colours," one of the men said.
"I don't have it," the Grudge Bringer said.
"C'mon... give me your colours, Grudge Bringers are no more," the same Bandido replied, before punching him in the head.
Before the violence could escalate he ran away. Three of the rival bikies chased him shouting, "quick, let's get him", but he escaped.
The sergeant of arms acted as a look-out during the confrontation. Later that night he messaged a senior member of the gang and said that they were unable to take the vest.
An unsophisticated execution
The plot which led to Mr De Britt being shot - which police described as "execution style" - was orchestrated by Woods and Hayes.
"This was very far from just a scare and a touch-up. On the crown case, this was a joint criminal enterprise to kill someone," crown prosecutor David Scully said.
But the Grudge Bringers said they did not intend to kill Mr De Britt that night. They said they wanted to scare him, end the intimidation of their club and "put the wind up" his head.
"[Harding's] intention was to simply frighten, scare off Mr De Britt so that the threats and the attacks on the Grudge Bringers would end," Barrister John Stratton told the jury.
Woods and Hayes did not go to Mr De Britt's home on January 14, instead sending Harding, McLachlan and Farnsworth and two other men. They were all dressed in black, wearing masks and armed with weapons.
After the killing, the group took an angle grinder to the shotgun, buried the remaining weapons and burnt the Toyota Yaris used to drive to Mr De Britt's house.
None of the named men were the ones who pulled the trigger on the 12-gauge Franchi self-loading shotgun which killed Mr De Britt.
Instead, Justice Yehia found, the evidence pointed to a sixth man who was tried separately.
She said the plan was "not sophisticated", pointing to the fact Harding had accidentally fired the shotgun twice while trying to sneak up to the home.
She agreed the men were "genuinely scared" of Mr De Britt and "feared for their safety" but said the fact they "took matters into their own hands" so violently "must be denounced".
All five men were found guilty of murder by a NSW Supreme Court jury in December 2023. Justice Yehia handed down their sentence on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Woods was given a 28-year prison sentence with a non-parole period of 17 years and six months. He will be eligible for release in 2038.
Hayes was sentenced to 20 years and will spend at least 13 years and two months behind bars. He will be eligible for release in 2033.
McLaughlin, Harding and Farnsworth were all given the same sentence - 23 years in prison with a non-parole period of 14 years and 11 months. They will be eligible for release in 2035.
