Inside story of notorious bikie Nick ‘The Knife’ Forbes’ son charged with Shane Bowden murder

He’s the clean-cut, private-school-educated son of notorious bikie Nick ‘The Knife’ Forbes. Now Haydn Forbes is charged with the execution-style murder of gang member Shane Bowden.

He’s the clean-cut, private-school-educated son of one of Australia’s most notorious bikies.

And now Haydn Forbes, son of Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang heavyweight Nick ‘The Knife’ Forbes, has been charged over the execution-style murder of another infamous bikie.

Haydn, 25, was among nine alleged Mongols bikies arrested in the last week and charged with murdering former gang member Shane Bowden in the driveway of his Pimpama home on the northern Gold Coast last October.

Haydn Forbes, pictured with a group of alleged Mongols members. Photo: Facebook

Bowden was allegedly ambushed as he returned home from a late night gym session and shot 21 times by two hooded gunmen armed with a machine gun-style pistol and shotgun.

He had ‘patched over’ to the Mongols from the Finks but was believed to have defected back to his old gang before he was shot dead.

Gold Coast bikie Shane Bowden was executed in his garage.

Nick Forbes – who back in the day was part of the so-called Finks ‘Terror Team’ of bikie enforcers before patching over to the Mongols in 2013 and allegedly becoming the gang’s national president – has done significant jail time for serious crimes.

Haydn’s father is notorious bikie Nick 'The Knife' Forbes. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)

They include a lengthy stint for his role in the ‘Ballroom Blitz’, the infamous, 2006 bikie showdown at the five-star Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, where a kickboxing tournament in the grand ball room erupted in a pitched battle between Finks and Hells Angels gang members armed with guns, knives and furniture.

But none of the crimes for which Forbes Sr has been jailed are as serious as the murder charge now facing son Haydn.

Haydn, 25, was educated at Chisholm Catholic College at Cornubia near Beenleigh, leaving there in 2011.

He played basketball as a teen and later got into boxing, with one Facebook video showing him sparring with former world champion boxer Michael ‘The Spartan’ Katsidis.

Unlike his dad who sports prominent neck tattoos, Haydn’s Facebook profile pic shows him looking slim and clean-cut, with a trendy short-back-and-sides haircut.

Other photos, in which he poses with large men in Mongols colours, reveal large arm and leg tatts.

Under his Facebook profile are the letters MFFM – ‘Mongols Forever, Forever Mongols’.

His private Instagram profile says ‘West City Mongol … Actions Speak Louder Than Words’.

Haydn’s Facebook posts include one in November 2016 declaring his father ‘not guilty’ of drug trafficking charges, and another, a month later, revealing Forbes Sr had been jailed for two-half-years over a wild brawl outside an Adelaide nightclub.

“He asked me to thank everyone who has supported him through the whole court process and asked me to send his love to everyone also!” Haydn told his followers.

The magistrate who sentenced Forbes Sr over the brawl, which erupted in 2011 when he was still a Fink, described it as ‘disgusting’ and said there was little hope of rehabilitation because of Forbes’ loyalty to the gang.

Just days before he was charged with Bowden’s murder, a cocaine possession charge against Haydn was dropped in Southport Magistrates Court after police opted not to proceed with the case.

He was represented by Gold Coast criminal lawyer Michael Gatenby, who is also acting for Haydn and the other eight men charged over the murder.

Mr Gatenby has described the charges against some of his clients as ‘spurious’ and said he would be ‘surprised’ if the murder charge stuck against most of them.

He also accused police of grandstanding with their claim that the Mongols had been ‘decimated’.

In April 2013, when he was 17, Haydn posted on Facebook: “Whatever the outcome of my future may be, I just wanna make my parents proud! That’s all I want.”

His mum Michelle responded: “I am very proud of you Haydn for everything you have achieved in life and in your future. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I am proud that you are my son xxxxxx.”