Perth man pleads guilty to murder over public shooting of bikie boss Nick Martin

The man accused of assassinating bikie boss Nick Martin in front of onlookers at a drag racing event has pleaded guilty to murder.

A convoy of Rebels members escort their former president, Nick Martin to his final resting place at Pinnaroo cemetery north of Perth. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tony McDonough

A former soldier has pleaded guilty to murdering former Rebels bikie boss Nick Martin, who was gunned down in a sniper-style assassination in Perth.

Martin, 51, was killed with a single shot in front of horrified children during an event at Perth Motorplex in Kwinana on December 12, 2020.

The 35-year-old man accused of his murder – who cannot be identified because there is a suppression order on his identity – entered a guilty plea in a Perth court on Wednesday.

Nick Martin and his wife Amanda (inset) at a previous drag race event. Paramedics and police swarmed Perth Motorplex Picture: 7NEWS

West Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson confirmed the guilty plea.

He said the matter was now in the hands of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“We are working progressively with not only our homicide squad, our gang crime squad, but with the DPP,” he told reporters.

“We’re making good progress.”

Martin was executed with a single shot to the chest from a distance of about 300 metres, while he was watching drag racing at the motorplex with his family.

Another man was shot and a five-year-old boy suffered a minor injury during the shooting.

Former Rebels Motorcycle Club President Nick Martin in Perth. Picture: Supplied

An extravagant funeral was held in Perth, where hundreds of leather-clad mourners arrived to pay their respects to the slain former Rebels Motorcycle Club president, whose casket was clad in $100 notes.

Police set up a special task force to investigate the incident, including offering a reward of up to $1 million dollars for information that would lead to a conviction.

The murder also led to a crackdown by police on bikie gangs across Perth.

Mourners arrive at the funeral home in North Perth to pay their respects to Martin. Picture: Supplied

Deputy Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the guilty plea proved the police investigation had been thorough.

He said it had saved WA an otherwise significant trial that would have cost the state an “extraordinary” amount of money.

“To have this guilty plea now means that the state has got the answers of a public execution and we can put this to rest,” he said.

The police investigation is ongoing, with detectives working to find out who else was involved beyond the man who pulled the trigger.

“We know outlaw motorcycle gangs feature heavily in this investigation,” Mr Blanch said.

Originally published as Perth man pleads guilty to murder over public shooting of bikie boss Nick Martin