Nomads bikies Justin Bell and James Dylan Boardman plead guilty to criminal activities

The night began with a lavish seafood meal in one of Newcastle’s finest restaurants. It ended with the shooting of a bikie gang nominee for disobeying club rules. Now, almost an entire Nomads chapter has been shot down by police.

Senior Nomad bikie gang member Justin Bell has admitted his roles in a kneecapping and a violent home invasion. Picture: Facebook.

If getting pinched for driving with methamphetamine in his system was not bad enough, the fact a wannabe Nomads bikie gang member was forced to leave a high-ranking office bearer and the girlfriend of another member on the side of the M1 Motorway to get an Uber home as he was taken away for questioning only added to his grief.

And so it was, just a few weeks later, that the gang “nominee” was summoned from Sydney to a compulsory Sydney chapter meeting in Lake Macquarie.

It was a Friday night, and the “nom” had to catch the train after losing his licence for the drug driving mishap.

The had-to-be-at meeting was hatched as senior Nomads enjoyed an expensive seafood meal at Scratchleys, an up-market restaurant which props out into Newcastle Harbour in the inner-city.

At the dinner to celebrate a birthday was a relative who’s who of the Nomads’ Sydney-based chapter, and included club enforcer, sergeant-at-arms Jason Bailey, vice-president James Dylan Boardman and treasurer Justin Bell.

A who’s who of the Sydney chapter of the Nomads enjoyed a meal at the famed Scratchleys restaurant at Newcastle before the kneecapping. (File picture)

In the next few hours, Bailey and Bell would play their own parts in the kneecapping of the troublesome nominee off a lonely road at the base of the Watagans before he was dumped at Edgeworth to look after himself and the wound to his right leg.

Now, 28 months on, Bell has become the last of the Nomads to admit to his part in the kneecapping and plead guilty to the associated charge of reckless wounding in company.

Justin Bell.

James Dylan Boardman.

But Bell continued to push back at a charge of directing a criminal group, pleading not guilty on Monday but guilty to the alternative count of participating in a criminal group.

Prosecutors initially pushed back themselves, indicating they were happy for it to go to trial, before withdrawing the directing a criminal group charge on Thursday and accepting the guilty participation plea as part of a new indictment.

And in doing so, Bell signed off on an agreed statement of facts which has helped shed more light on the lead-up to the kneecapping and other nefarious activities, such as the violent home invasion of former Rebels bikie Jake Allen at West Wallsend.

Boardman pleaded guilty to directing a criminal group – which includes the kneecapping – and to his part in the West Wallsend home invasion.

Jason Bailey.

Bailey has already been sentenced to a maximum 13-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of eight-and-a-half years, for the kneecapping, home invasion and other charges.

The agreed statement of facts said Bell was in agreement to assault the nominee for breaking the club’s rules by using ice and was liable for the reckless wounding in company charge.

But the facts state that prosecutors were unable to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Bell was aware beforehand that Bailey was armed with a pistol, which he used to shoot the nominee.

What was also agreed was that Bell, who was known by the nicknames “Belly” and “Tum Tum”, Bailey, who also went by the Jason Warwick, Boardman and others met the nominee at Edgeworth’s Henny Penny after the nominee was picked up at Cardiff train station.

It was April 8, 2022 and the trio had finished their fancy seafood feed at Scratchleys.

A convoy of cars drove the 20km to Sugarloaf Range Rd at Freemans Waterhole where Bailey walked over to the nominee and stood in front of him.

Police search an area near the intersection of Wakefield and Sugarloaf Range roads on August 11, 2022 as part of an investigation into the kneecapping of a Nomads bikie nominee.

“You know you f--ked up,” Bailey said the nom.

“Yeah I know,” he replied.

And with that, Bailey pulled out the Luger pistol and shot the nominee just above the right knee.

He fell to the ground and was dragged 10 metres as gang members fumbled for their phones and turned on their torch lights to look for the spent bullet casing.

They couldn’t find it and Bailey walked over to his vehicle, wiped the pistol clean with a cloth and placed it under his seat before speeding off.

“Is everything good now,” the nominee asked as he screamed in pain.

“Yeah, if you keep your mouth shut,” Bell replied.

The nominee was carried back to a car and dumped in a backstreet at Edgeworth, where police were later called.

But the nominee refused to talk and was rushed to John Hunter Hospital for treatment.

He was later charged with an unrelated kidnapping and two armed robberies on the Central Coast and was himself sentenced in April to an aggregate maximum term of seven-and-a-half years with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years.

Bell, who turns 30 next month, Boardman, who turns 30 in October, and Bailey, 49, have all also admitted to their roles in the West Wallsend home invasion seven months before the kidnapping.

The agreed statement of facts said the trio were all wearing Nomads’ paraphernalia at Bell’s then home at Heddon Greta on the evening of September 3, 2021.

The gang nominee was found shot in the leg on Arnott St, Edgeworth about 9.10pm on April 8, 2022. Picture: Google Maps.

Bell had told the men that the victim, Jake Allen, had been “talking shit” about the Nomads and a woman.

He told them that he wanted to fight Allen “one-on-one” and Bailey said “something has to be done” and they should go to his house.

The facts said the trio had a vote whether to go – and Bell voted against it – before they left in the early hours of the next morning.

Bell and Boardman were armed with extendible batons and Bailey didn't have a weapon – the batons and other evidence were later seized by police during the search of property linked to Bailey.

Security footage showed a white Jeep driving past the home about 4.40am before it was parked.

Boardman tied a jumper around his face while Bailey, whose bald head with scalp tattoos were seen on security footage, was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with Nomads written on the back and down the sleeves.

Boardman followed Bailey onto front veranda – Boardman was also bald with tattoos on his scalp with the black Nomads jumper tied around face

The trio were at the front door when Allen yelled out “f--k off” and “who is it” before Bell replied: “come to see you, is that Jake Allen in there”.

The voice said it wasn’t but Bailey kicked the door in, shattered glass and splintered timber flying everywhere.

They all ran in, with Bell and Boardman striking the victim’s body several times with their batons as he lay on his back.

Security footage recorded thudding or banging noises, with Allen yelling “ah f--k, you got me” and screaming in pain.

Bailey said to find any Rebels bikie gang gear before the victim made a beeline for the front door, wearing only shorts and he ran down the street and hid in a backyard.

Bell made some attempt to wipe blood off walls of the hallway and also around the light switches and door handles while the victim rang triple-0 to say his home had been “invaded” and he had been bashed.

He was found at 5.10am and taken to John Hunter Hospital with injuries across his body, although no fractures, and was discharged the next day and remained staunch that he would never speak to authorities.

Bell, on the charges including reckless wounding in company and participating in a criminal group, and Boardman, on charges of special aggravated break and enter to commit a serious indictable offence and knowingly direct activities of a criminal group, will be sentenced in November.