WA’s top cop has addressed the verdict handed down to David Pye in court this morning, and the police investigation that led to his arrest.
Pye was found guilty of masterminding the murder of rival underworld heavyweight Nick Martin at Kwinana Motorplex in 2020.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch.Hamish Hastie
“David Pye, because of petty bikie politics, decided to pay someone to kill another person,” Police Commissioner Col Blanch said.
“Here we have grown adults planning murders of each other over silly things. I’m not even going to entertain how stupid they are because the level of buffoonery is extraordinary within outlaw motorcycle gangs.
“Nick Martin was surrounded by family, friends and young kids – he paid the ultimate price for petty bikie politics, but in the presence of families and young people – an eight-year-old young boy suffered injuries, another person suffered shrapnel wounds – these things should just not happen in Western Australia.”
Blanch said over 40 police vehicles responded to numerous triple zero calls after the shooting.
In response, they set up Taskforce Ravello with 700 members working to suppress outlaw motorcycle gang activities by executing search warrants on gang members.
Out of 286 search warrants, 271 people were charged.
That same team also conducted the homicide investigation into the shooting.
“They did an amazing job, I’m so proud of them because a life was lost in our community, families are grieving, but this is a result that delivers that justice,” Blanch said.
He was then questioned on whether he believed police would have found Pye if the shooter, whose name is suppressed, didn’t provide evidence against him, given part of bikie politics is related to a code of silence.
“The bikie code of silence is not real. They might not stand in front of cameras and say what they’re doing, but plenty of bikies ring Crime Stoppers, plenty of bikies tell police what’s happened. There’s no code of silence,” Blanch replied.