The Hell’s Angel biker shot dead on the M40 last Sunday had been a Christian who used to hold Bible classes and prayer meetings and dreamt of being a missionary.

As his girlfriend, Rebecca Smith, 25, spoke of the void left in her life by his murder, it emerged that he had been a born-again Christian when he lived in Canada. Gerry Tobin, 35, was killed with a shot to the back of the head as he drove his Harley-Davidson in Warwickshire. It remains unclear whether he was killed after angering someone from a rival gang or was targeted because he was wearing the Hell’s Angels insignia.

Born in Britain, he moved to Canada with his family at a young age and married a school sweetheart who shared his religious convictions. Mr Tobin and his wife, Kara, would raise eyebrows as they drove to church in Calgary on a Harley-Davidson.

“He was definitely unashamed of his faith in Jesus,” said Chris Stevenson, a missionary who attended the same church. Mr Tobin had been brought up in Alberta and moved to Calgary after marrying Kara. There the couple were known as born-again Christians.

Tim Pogue, who worked with Mr Tobin in a carpet-cleaning business in the town, said: “He was as close to the Bible as anyone I’ve ever known.”

It is not known whether Mr Tobin was still a practising Christian at the time of his death. “He used to have Bible talks at work in the mornings, prayer meetings,” said Mr Pogue. “I still have a Bible that he and Kara gave me as a gift.”

The couple moved to Britain in the late 1990s and it is understood that they split up five years ago. Apparently they had spoken of becoming missionaries. According to Mr Stevenson, Mr Tobin wanted to fly humanitarian aid to impoverished areas.

Detective Superintendent Ken Lawrence, who is leading the inquiry, said: “We are getting a picture of a hard-working, friendly but private person who would put himself out to help others.”

At a press conference at the Harley-Davidson dealership in Mottingham, southeast London, where Mr Tobin worked as a mechanic, Marcus Berriman, of the Hell’s Angels, read a statement on behalf of Miss Smith in which she condemned the shooting as cowardly and callous. “Gerry stood out as a true gentleman. He was a rare breed of man with the heart of a lion and a soul filled with compassion and selflessness,” the statement said.

“Gerry was a man of his word and a defender of his principles. He was a hard-working and respected motorcycle mechanic who was not only loving towards Rebecca but also to his family and friends. Gerry was a thinking man, ready to offer guidance and support, a true inspiration to many, a charming personality whose quick-witted humour kept everyone smiling. His membership of the Hell’s Angels was a natural extension of his passion for motorcycling.”

Mr Tobin “was Rebecca’s soulmate and she feels blessed to have spent five wonderful years of her life with such a wonderful man,” Mr Berriman said.

“The nature of his untimely death due to a callous and cowardly act of violence from which it was impossible to defend himself only accentuates the pain that we are experiencing. ”

Mr Lawrence said that officers had had anonymous tip-offs and it emerged that two shots had been fired at Mr Tobin. “I don’t think this was a simple random attack. There must have been some precursor event,” he said.

He feared that the shooting could lead to a turf war between rival gangs, Mr Lawrence added. He said that he would be astonished if the murder had been carried out by another Hell’s Angel, because of the group’s code of loyalty, but that fringe elements may not feel bound by its principles and may be tempted to retaliate.

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