Bikie murderer sentenced to 23 years

KIM WATERS
A former Rebels bikie has started a 23-year jail sentence for murdering a rival Geelong Bandidos member in 2008.
John Russell Bedson, 27, fired a volley of shots into the Bandidos’ Geelong club house on October 22, 2008.
The shots killed 51-year-old Ross Brand, of Torquay, and injured Paul Szerwinski who suffered gunshot injuries to his wrist and one of his upper thighs.
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Curtain sentenced Bedson to a minimum 18 years jail on Wednesday.
Bedson’s brother, Derek, who initiated the shooting, was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Justice Elizabeth Curtain was reported as saying “these offences occurred in a public street of Geelong on a public holiday”.
“The firearm was discharged in daylight, in a public street, across a public area into those men who were simply standing there.”
Bandidos bikies packed the Geelong courtroom for the sentencing.
Some wore gang colours while others were dressed in T-shirts bearing pictures of Mr Brand.
Tributes for Mr Brand flowed on the Bandidos webpage.
Some of the posts described the bikie as “a true stand up guy” and a “much loved friend and brother”.
“People can say what they want about you because I know the kind of person you were, you had the best heart and a lot of love, you would do anything for the people you cared about, you were seriously one of a kind,” posted Jasmine of Geelong.