Supreme Court enforces strict new curfew for feuding Finks and Nomads bikie gangs following series of tit-for-tat attacks in violent turf war

  • The Supreme court has implemented strict conditions on two bikie gangs
  • The Finks and Nomads have been feuding in the hunter region since 2016 
  • Gang members won't be able to travel in cars after 9pm or talk to each other 
  • The conflict has escalated recently with assaults and drive-by shootings

By Cait Kelly For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

A serious crime prevention order that restricts gang members movements and freedoms has be implemented in an attempt to end the violent turf war between feuding bikie gangs in the Hunter region.

The order is the first of it's kind in NSW and will mean that ten members of the feuding Finks and Nomads bikies gangs will have to abide by strict rules for the next twelve months. 

Included in the conditions are restrictions on travel and communication. Members will not be allowed to be in a vehicle after 9pm or communicate with other people in their gangs, The Daily Telegraph has reported. 

Members of the Nomads (pictured) have been feuding with the Finks since 2016 

The Supreme court has implemented strict conditions on two bikie gangs including rules that restrict them travelling after 9pm in a vehicle and talking to other members of their groups

The tough orders, were handed down today in the Supreme Court to protect the public and put a stop to the violence. 

The conflict between the rival groups has escalated since 2016 and has involved assaults, firebombings, drive-by shootings and attacks on family members. 

Membership in the two groups has risen in 2018 as they battle for supremacy in the region. 

Gangs Squad boss Detective Superintendent Deb Wallace said she welcomed the new measures as police are tasked with the difficult job of ending the violence.

'I'm very pleased with the outcome of thee proceedings,' she said outside court.  

At the beginning of April, 31 properties between Muswellbrook and Newcastle were targeted in a series of police raids against the alleged gang members. 

Members of the Newcastle Finks chapter pose in their MC colours. The gang has reportedly undergone a major recruitment drive over the past year

Members of the Newcastle Finks chapter pose in their MC colours. The conflict has involved assaults, firebombings, drive-by shootings and attacks on family members

The troubled has spanned across the Hunter Valley region, mainly in Newcastle and Maitland (pictured)

The turf war has spanned across the Hunter Valley region, mainly in Newcastle and Maitland (pictured)

Thirteen alleged bikie members were arrested while weapons, drugs, explosive detonators and reptiles were seized from several properties during the large scale sting.

Eleven of those arrested were charged with participating in a criminal group while two were charged with drug offences. 

Police have said that the tension between the two gangs is so intense that it is only a matter of time before the violent clash turns deadly. 

Since the start of 2018 there have been seven drive-by shootings and two bombings, leading police to warn a tit-for-tat war is on the verge of breaking out

Since the start of 2018 there have been seven drive-by shootings and two bombings

Police have established Task Force Darnay in response to the violence and have shut down a number of bikie clubhouses across the region (pictured)

Police have shut down a number of bikie clubhouses across the region (pictured)

This year alone there have been seven shooting incidents, including on near Maitland in March that left a 44-year-old man with a bullet in his leg. 

Authorities have appealed top gang members and their families to stop the violence. 

The conditions also state that the members are not allowed to associate with each other, wear their insignia, enter a licensed premises or use encrypted social media apps such as Wikr or WhatsApp.

A raid on the Nomads clubhouse last weekend led to it being declared a restricted premises

Authorities raided several properties last month and arrested 13 members (pictured is policing raiding a nomads club house)

Members face a jail sentence of up to five years if they breach the regulations. 

Last month, when the restrictions were first announced, one self-proclaimed member took to Facebook to lament the crack down as a 'dead set joke.'

'We have stronger laws against us and get treated worse then (sic) terrorists and paedophiles,' he posted alongside the number 14, a Nomad symbol.   

Both groups disagreed that there was an escalating turf war, with the five Nomads giving evidence that there was not a war with the Finks.

The bikies are expected to appeal.   

FINKS AND NOMADS BIKIE CONFLICT: NSW HUNTER REGION

Conflict between the Finks and Nomads bikie gangs in the NSW Hunter region has escalated since late 2016, so far involving motorcycles being rammed off the road, assaults, firebombings, drive-by shootings and attacks on family members.

OCTOBER 2016

Zakary Ross, alleged former member of Newcastle City Nomads, swaps allegiance by 'patching over' to the Finks due to an internal dispute. Police believe it's the catalyst for conflict.

NOVEMBER 2016

A Finks nominee suffers a dislocated hip when he is rammed off his bike.

DECEMBER 2016

8 - Shots are fired into a Merrylands cafe belonging to the Nomads national president and vice president.

9 - Finks and Nomads members fight at a Wallsend service station and Nomads members are struck in the head with a baseball bat. Police launch an operation to proactively target the conflict.

MARCH 2017

25 - Four Nomads members are allegedly involved in an unprovoked assault on two men at a Newcastle pub.

26 - Two cars belonging to the father of a Finks member are firebombed in a driveway.

27 - Shots are fired from multiple weapons into the Nomads Newcastle clubhouse at Islington.

28 - The Nomads Muswellbrook clubhouse is firebombed with three Molotov cocktails.

28 - More than 30 shots are fired into the home of alleged Nomads Newcastle sergeant-at-arms James Quinnell.

SEPTEMBER 2017

15 - A Nomads nominee is rammed off his motorcycle in Muswellbrook.

19 - A Finks member is sitting in a parked car when two shotgun rounds are fired into the vehicle, narrowly missing him.

DECEMBER 2017

2 - Three Finks Newcastle members are assaulted with baseball bats at the Islington Caltex service station. One suffers a broken arm.

11 - A car linked to the Nomads Newcastle chapter pursues another car, forcing it off the road. Alleged Finks member Troy Vanderlight is later assaulted at his home.

JANUARY 2018

4 - The Nomads Islington clubhouse is firebombed.

15 - Vanderlight's home is shot at in an early-morning attack.

25 - Vanderlight's home is hit by a Molotov cocktail.

FEBRUARY 2018

2 - Shots are fired into the home of a Nomads' ex-girlfriend at Gillieston Heights. Police believe it 'clearly demonstrates a heightened level of unpredictable violence'.

13 - At least seven rounds from a high-powered rifle are fired from a car into the home of alleged Finks member Andrew Manners in retaliation for the February 2 attack.

27 - The home of alleged Newcastle Nomads president Bradley Bowtell is shot three times in an early-morning attack. Bowtell, 'in no uncertain terms', tells police he won't assist with the investigation and wants to go back to bed.

MARCH 2018

1 - The home of alleged Finks state president Andrew Manners is shot with 20 rounds from a high-powered rifle while his partner and a child are sleeping inside.

3 - The home of alleged Finks treasurer Shane Hewitt is shot with 'military grade bullets' in a drive-by attack. A 44-year-old male associate is hit in the leg.

Source: Affidavit and documents tendered to NSW Supreme Court as part of the case for NSW Police seeking serious crime prevention orders against five Nomads bikies.  

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FInks and Nomad bikie war crack down by Supreme Court in Sydney

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