The grief-stricken mom of murdered biker Gerard Tobin flashed heavy metal-style devil horns in a tribute to her son at his funeral Saturday.

Maria Hutton, from Calgary, raised her hands in the air and joked “I know this is not politically correct, but I am going to do it anyway.” The gesture drew cheers and laughter from hundreds of leather-clad mourners who gathered at Mortlake Crematorium in south London to honour former Calgarian Gerard, 35, who was shot in the back of the head on August 12 after leaving an annual bikers’ festival.

Maria, who had not spoken to Gerard for more than a decade, embraced the culture that many are blaming for the Hell Angels biker’s death; a culture that is in stark contrast to the Christian lifestyle he lived while in Canada.

Gerard’s Hells Angels pals in the U.K. have made Maria an honorary club member. On Saturday she voiced her approval by shouting their motto during the funeral. “Before all this, I didn’t know about ‘Angels forever, forever Angels,’ but now I know all about it,” she told well-wishers. She also put aside the differences between her and her son, stating: “Gerry was a principled person all his life.”

Maria was brought to tears by the outpouring of sympathy from the more than 3,000 Hells Angels who came from around the world to pay their respects to a fellow member. Roads leading to the crematorium were packed with bikes and well-wishers who had travelled from as far away as Croatia.

Cops in the U.K. say there is nothing in Gerard’s past to indicate he was involved with any criminal activity. However, they do believe his death was related to his involvement with the bike gang.

That Gerard would even become a Hells Angel was a shock to his former friends from Calgary, who say he had become a born-again Christian not long before he left in an attempt to change his life.

Missionary Chris Stevenson, who met Gerard at Bethany Chapel on Richardson Way S.W., says the Harley Davidson devotee had a rough upbringing in northern Alberta that he wanted to leave behind. “He didn’t talk about his parents much,” Stevenson says.

Gerard, who ran a company called Big Twin Furnace Cleaning while living in Calgary with his wife at the time, Kara Tobin, ran Bible studies and spoke of becoming a missionary, though he did not fit into church life entirely.

“Gerry was the kind of guy that was usually sitting at the back,” Stevenson said. “He felt different from everyone else — he rode a motorbike and wore a leather jacket. But when it came to helping people, Gerry would bend over backwards.”

The Tobins moved to the U.K. when Kara was hired at a school there after she finished an education degree at the U of C.

Gerard’s bizarre shooting made global headlines. He was shot in the back of the head by a sniper travelling in a nearby car as he rode his bike on the highway. He had just left the Bulldog Bash bikers’ festival. The motive behind his shooting is, as yet, unknown.

Previous to the funeral, Maria, who is no longer with Gerard’s father, told of her heartbreak at holding her dead son in her arms, more than a decade after she had last seen him. She said: “I was kissing my son as I held his body. I thought because I gave him life I could bring him back.”

While in the U.K., Gerard and Kara split up. He had been dating a British woman, Becky Smith, for the past five years. At the funeral she said: “He was my soulmate. We were going to be together forever.”

Three men have since been charged with Tobin’s murder and another has been charged with a firearms offence in connection with the death.