Former bikie John Weston jailed for at least 25 years for murder of Laurie Starling

Justice Stephen Rothman in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced Weston to 34 years behind bars with a non-parole period of 25 years and six months for the "detestable and gravely reprehensible" killing.

Crown prosecutor Trevor Bailey told the jury during the trial that Mr Starling had bought an expensive motorbike "prized within the motorcycle community" from another custom vehicle builder, who had a dispute with a high ranking member of the Rebels.

Rebels members paid Mr Starling a visit, demanding the bike and threatening to hurt him if he did not hand it over.

Mr Starling, the court heard, gave up the bike but, feeling "cheated", he asked an influential member of the motorcycle community to help him get it back. This did not sit well with the Rebels, the court heard.

The Crown's case was that Weston approached Witness G, who was also a bikie, and said "they were going to go to the Chop Shop" to "give Mr Starling a touch up".

On the evening he was killed, Mr Starling had been working late and was in the process of locking up his shop gate when he was shot.

A couple cleaning a property nearby reported hearing cracking sounds and a man shouting, "No, you bastard," before he started screaming.

A man picking his sister up from a dance studio noticed Mr Starling's car in the driveway of the Chop Shop, revving loudly and releasing exhaust fumes, but not moving.

"According to a trail of blood spots leading up to the car, Mr Starling appears to have been shot near the gate entrance and moved a short distance to the driver's seat of his car where he collapsed and died at the wheel," Mr Bailey told the jury.

While the jury did not have to determine who the gunman was to prove the charge, the Crown's case was that it was Weston who pulled the trigger, according to Witness G.

Weston later told Witness G: "We are not going to jail ... if someone is going to jail, it would be me."

The Crown also told the jury that another witness saw Weston place dark clothes in the washing machine when he returned to his home that evening.

The following day, the court heard, Weston told another person, who could only be identified as Witness A, to drive to an area of bush in Gosford where he picked up a jumper, track suit pants and a gun.

Witness A saw the firearm that he had fetched from the bush being cut up with an oxyacetylene torch and then the pieces were thrown from a bridge in to the water, the court heard.

Weston pleaded not guilty to murder, with his barrister Gabriel Wendler telling the jury his client's case was that he was present when Mr Starling was shot but was not part of any plan to kill or injure him.