‘Me and the brother did that c*** off anyway’ $500k surety for accused bikie killer

A star witness claims one of nine men accused of the execution-style murder of an infamous bikie confessed to the crime while in jail on remand, prosecutors have alleged.

CCTV footage shows the moment Shane Bowden was shot dead. Photo: Supplied

An alleged bikie who is one of nine men accused of the execution-style murder of an infamous bikie has offered to put up $500,000 surety and to live 1600km away to secure his freedom on bail.

In the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Friday lawyers for Joshua James Small, from Pimpama on the Gold Coast, submitted that he would agree to wear a GPS tracking monitor and live in Mission Beach, two hours from Cairns, if granted bail.

Small, 32, has been in prison on remand for more than three years for the murder of ex-Mongol Shane Bowden on October 12, 2020, with an aggravating circumstance of serious organised crime.

Joshua Small

Bowden was a “turncoat” who was allegedly shot dead by his former Mongol comrades, the prosecution has alleged.

Small is accused of being a party to the killing by secretly putting a tracker, attached with magnets, on Bowden’s girlfriend’s BMW car at about 8.15am on October 1, 2020 when he parked near his lawyer’s office next to the Southport Courthouse.

Eight others are charged over the alleged murder.

A star prosecution witness – who can’t be named for legal reasons – claims Small confessed to the murder while in jail on remand, the prosecution has alleged.

Small is alleged to have told the man: “Me and the brother did that c*** off anyway”.

Prosecutors allege Bowden was shot 21 times at point blank range by two hooded men who snuck under the garage door as it opened for him to park his car.

Shane Bowden.

Crown Prosecutor Brendan White told the court that the star witness was credible because he told police about a fingerprint of one of the accused men which police found on the tracking device, and which outlaw bikie gang Small is a member of, details which could only be learned by speaking to Small.

“He simply confessed that one of his people executed this man,” Mr White told the court of Small.

“The confession shows knowledge of things the person could not know, whose fingerprint was on the tracking device and the particular outlaw motorcycle gang he was in,” Mr White said.

Mr White told the court that the Mission Beach address proposed by Small would not be suitable because it is listed as having “eight firearms” stored there.

Barrister Martin Longhurst told Justice Declan Kelly on Friday that the star prosecution witness against his client was not credible and has a history of dishonesty and the prosecution case against his client was not strong and “not straightforward”.

Mr Longhurst said he wishes to cross-examine the star witness at an upcoming committal hearing.

A committal hearing has been set down to be heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court in February.

“It seems, on the evidence, there may be just as much likelihood that (Small) gets a no-case submission if (the star witness) does not come up to proof at committal,” Mr Longhurst said.

He told the court that no prosecution witness statements implicate Small with knowledge of the killing of Bowden at the time he allegedly placed the tracking device on the car.

The court heard that in November last year alleged Mongols bikie Fidel Gunes was cleared of murdering Bowden after a magistrate dismissed the murder charge.

Gunes was accused of attaching two tracking devices to Bowden’s car.

Police at the scene in Pimpama. Picture: Glenn Hampson

“Even if we take an unflattering position for my client, that his conduct may be something less than murder but may be a criminal offence, he has done a substantial amount of time for conceivable alternative offences that the case may support, for example stalking, even on a manslaughter on a limited knowledge basis, on a party basis,” Mr Longhurst said.

Mr White told the court that a murder trial is likely to occur in 2026 and it is likely to be a joint trial of the co-accused.

Small applied for bail in February this year but was refused.

The application before Justice Kelly has been adjourned until a date to be fixed to allow the parties to seek information about the suitability of the proposed residential bail address in Mission Beach.

Originally published as ‘Me and the brother did that c*** off anyway’ $500k surety for accused bikie killer