Finks jailed for 'ballroom blitz' brawl on Gold Coast

TWO members of the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Club have been jailed for their part in the violent Gold Coast "ballroom blitz" bikie brawl.

TWO members of the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Club have been jailed for their part in the violent Gold Coast "ballroom blitz" bikie brawl.

Three men were shot and three stabbed when members of the Finks attacked rival Hells Angels bikies in a packed Royal Pines Resort ballroom in March, 2006.

Members and associates of the Hells Angels were sitting ringside at a kickboxing tournament when the large group of rival Finks, including Shane Scott Bowden, 36, and Nicholas "The Knife" Forbes, 39, arrived.

The fight started when Forbes threw a punch at Fink member Christopher Hudson, 30, who is awaiting sentencing in Victoria over a drug and alcohol-fuelled shooting spree in Melbourne last year that left one man dead and two other people injured.

A Brisbane District Court was shown dramatic footage of the now-infamous incident; with the tournament descending into chaos as warring bikies throw punches, chairs and glasses.

The footage clearly shows Forbes and Hudson coming to blows, before Bowden pulls a handgun and shoots Hudson twice in the face and back.

Forbes then holds Hudson against the ring while Bowden and another man rain more blows on him.

It is believed the shooting was retribution for Hudson, a former Finks member, deciding to defect to the Hells Angels.

However, the court heard Forbes was furious with Hudson because he had stolen a sapphire from his parents, which he intended to pawn to fuel his drug addiction.

Bowden and Forbes were yesterday sentenced to 6 and a half years' and 18 months' prison respectively for their roles in the melee, which took place in front of 1800 shocked spectators and caused $10,000 worth of damage.

Judge Milton Griffin also ordered Forbes serve a cumulative sentence of three and a half years for six counts of assault occasioning bodily harm in company and one of grievous bodily harm relating to another incident on the Gold Coast earlier this year.

These sentences will be suspended after Forbes has served 27 months behind bars.

"You were both involved in extreme lawlessness" Justice Griffin told the pair.

"That sort of violence in a public place can't be tolerated."

Three other men are still to face court over the incident.