Gang member jailed over failed plot to shoot Finks bikie boss

A member of a revived Brothers for Life gang chapter has been jailed over a plot to shoot an Illawarra bikie gang boss.

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A member of a revived Brothers for Life gang chapter has been jailed over a plot to shoot a bikie gang boss.

Andrew Coe was sentenced to at least three and a half years behind bars on Friday for being involved in the plot hatched in the Illawarra region in 2018.

The 28-year-old was part of the so-called BFL Illawarra chapter — a spin-off of the street gang that terrorised southwest Sydney.

Damien Featherstone (left) and Andrew Coe, both involved in the BFL gang in the Wollongong area.

The court heard the group was allegedly led by Damien Featherstone, who set up the chapter in 2017 after mingling with former gang associates in jail.

After Coe was released from jail in January 2018, he agreed to track down and shoot the heavily-tattooed Troy Fornaciari, the Finks Illawarra chapter president.

According to documents tendered in court, Coe carried out reconnaissance on Fornaciari’s club house in North Wollongong, tried to source ammunition and used a woman in a failed attempt to lure the bikie figure from his building.

BFL Illawarra chapter Andrew Coe, then 27. Picture: Facebook

Finks Illawarra chapter president Troy Fornaciari.

The plan fell apart again and again, including because Coe, who changed his name to Abdullah, had a flat tyre.

Following a NSW Police Criminal Groups Squad investigation, Coe was arrested and charged in March last year.

In November he pleaded guilty to offences including conspiracy to discharge a firearm and cause grievous bodily harm.

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In Wollongong District Court on Friday, he was sentenced to a maximum five and a half years jail with his lawyer submitting Coe feared his gang boss would kill him if he didn’t conspire to shoot Fornaciari.

In one phone call detailed in a statement of facts, Featherstone told Coe he was going to meet him in Dapto and “blow your head off when I get there”.