In 1966 Finch had been sentenced to 14 years prison after being found guilty of malicious wounding with a firearm and carrying an unlicensed pistol. Finch had fired two shots during an altercation near a petrol station in Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney, injuring two men. Finch gave Stuart the offending firearm post shooting and the two career criminals had known each other for at least seven years before. At the trial Finch was described by police as "an active young criminal and associate of the most violent criminals in Sydney." Finch had been paroled after serving seven years of that sentence.