The Sydney Morning Herald
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Australasian Biker News
Bikies lay Metho Tom to rest
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BY: Dylan Welch
western Sydney - ~HE WAS "Metho Tom" to most, "The King of Blacktown" to
many.~
And yesterday, in an ecumenical service, members of the Bandidos, the
Lone Wolf, Highway 61, the Hells Angels, the Black Uhlans, the
Gladiators and even the Comancheros and the Rebels came together to bid
farewell to John Browne, the Nomads Motorcycle Club president.
More than 1000 bikies rumbled through the streets of western Sydney on
the way to one of Australia's largest bikie funerals.
Browne, 57, one of the original members of the Nomads club in Australia
and its first national president, died last Saturday from liver cancer.
In a remarkable display for the fractious outlaw motorcycle gangs,
hundreds of chopped Harleys and altered Triumphs from every major gang
roared in procession from Browne's Blacktown bike dealership to St
Aidans Catholic Church in Rooty Hill for a 10.30am service.
With a police helicopter hovering and highway patrol officers clearing a
route for them, the procession wound its way through the suburbs to the
church.
In a show of defiance, the leading 50 or so riders - all Nomads - rode
to the service with their helmets off as part of a bike tradition known
as "dipping the lid".
"He loved his club," former Nomads member Fleecy told those who attended
a burial service at Pinegrove Cemetery, Eastern Creek.
Fleecy was one of six members of the Nomads in Australia when Browne
joined in 1969.
"It was his club right from day one. No one could beat Tom in a fight.
He'd hit you once and you'd go down and then someone else would come
along and finish you off. That was before all this bloody stuff with
guns and knives," he said.
Browne's sister, Jackie McLeod, described how as a teenager she had
owned a "beautiful, maroon pushbike with white handles".
"I came home one day and Mum told me Tom had hocked the bike and used
the money to move to Sydney [from Bathurst]," she said.
Fleecy said: "I was really glad to hear that the first bike that he ever
knocked off was a pushbike. He always denied it."
Browne made headlines in 2005 when his Blacktown dealership was razed in
a suspected arson attack.
At the time it was alleged that the Rebels - with whom the Nomads had
been openly warring for six months - were behind the attack, which
caused more than $1 million in damage.
But any bad blood between the two gangs was forgotten yesterday, with
the Rebels' national president, Alex Vella, attending part of the
service.
"Everyone knows today's about respect. And nobody will screw around,
unless they want to join Tom," a Nomad said.
Another member of the club passed on Browne's last wishes.
"He said anyone with outstanding accounts, can you go fix the shop up.
"He also said there's a few blokes that he says he owes and he says
he'll catch up with you later."