Bandidos bikie links to Claymore shooting as Ashur Durbridge, George Ioapo, Lisiate Vaka, Manase Latu charged

Ben McClellan
The Nightly
Two men were found with gunshot wounds last month, one at a shop and one in a park.

New details of the alleged botched attempted executions of two men by a “guns for hire” gang linked to the Bandidos bikies and likened to “an Airtasker for violent criminals” by police have been revealed.

Police say the two victims were tortured with a hammer before being shot — one of them in the head — in a Western Sydney park last month.

Four men were charged on Tuesday over the Claymore hit gone wrong, which police say has links to organised crime and the drug trade.

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The victims were known to the group that allegedly tried to kill them and are also known to police.

One of the men charged Ashur Durbridge, 24, is linked to the Bandidos gang in Western Sydney.

He was arrested by heavily armed Raptor Squad officers at an Oran Park home before being taken to Campbelltown Police Station shirtless and sporting a beard and tattoos all over his torso and legs.

Durbridge - who claimed last year he had left the bikie gang - along with George Ioapo, 23, and Lisiate Vaka, 21, have all been charged with attempted murder among a raft of kidnapping, assault and criminal group charges.

A fourth man, Manase Latu, 22, is facing two counts of kidnapping and assault linked to a criminal group.

All four were refused bail in Campbelltown Local Court on Tuesday.

Durbridge apparently left the gang following a fight with a Bandidos gang president in Sydney’s CBD.

In April last year he exchanged blows with Southwest Sydney chapter president Ben Williamson after an argument in a Pyrmont restaurant.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Koutsoufis said an axe was also used in the allegedly attempted killings which was seized along with clothing and three vehicles police say the group also used to carry out the ambush.

He said the four men charged “were acting as almost guns for hire ... almost like an Airtasker for violent criminals”.

“The people involved are with an organised criminal syndicate who are heavily involved in the drug trade,” Dept Supt Koutsoufis said.

“They were putting their services out to act in this manner. They have no issue with extreme violence. They put their hands up to do it.

Dept Supt Koutsoufis said one of the victims was cooperating with investigators.

“Only by the grace of God that both (alleged victims) survived, especially the male who was shot in the head,” he said.

“The intent was they were to be murdered.”

One of the shooting victims.
One of the shooting victims. Credit: 7NEWS

Police allege the two victims, aged 29 and 30, were forced into the back of a ute at gun point on August 3 before being taken to an unknown area and tortured with a hammer, causing significant injury to the men’s hands.

They were then taken to a park in Claymore where they were shot.

The 30-year-old managed to find his way to a nearby shop, suffering a gunshot wound to his torso, where police were called.

The 29-year-old was found in a reserve on Proctor Way with gunshot wounds to his head and torso.

Paramedics rushed the pair to Liverpool Hospital — the 30-year-old in a stable condition and the 29-year-old in a critical condition.

They have both since recovered from their injuries.

Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney. NSWPF MMU
Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney. NSWPF MMU Credit: NSWPF MMU/Supplied

The senior NSW Police Raptor Squad officer warned that those choosing a life of crime had the odds stacked against them.

“When people are involved in this type of activity we’re dealing with serious organised criminal networks. Their go-to is serious violence,” Dept Supt Koutsoufis said.

“They target each other when opportunities arise. We are talking drugs and the money involved in drugs, greed, major criminal activity and unfortunately this is how many of these players in this world end up - either victims or offenders in serious violent criminal activities.

Police formed Strike Force Bellshill, consisting of officers from state crime command’s Raptor Squad and Campbelltown officers, to investigate the bloody attacks last month.

Officers swooped on the men accused of carrying out the near-executions on Tuesday, with multiple search warrants carried out at homes in Claymore, Catherine Field, Bradbury, Thirlmere, Oran Park and Eagle Vale.

At the Bradbury address a 24-year-old man allegedly assaulted a police officer before being arrested. The officer did not require medical treatment. He was charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest.

He was granted bail to appear before Campbelltown Local Court on October 10.

Investigations under Strike Force Bellshill continue.

Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney. NSWPF MMU
Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of two men in Western Sydney. NSWPF MMU Credit: NSWPF MMU/Supplied

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