Bradley brothers convicted of murder as father walks free
TWO brothers have been found guilty of murdering a gunman who fired at their home while their father has walked free after being acquitted of the same crime.
The jury’s unanimous verdict for Dean Bradley (24) and Jason Bradley (20) followed more than nine hours of deliberations.
Members of the Bradley family, including a third brother Ryan (18), who was acquitted of the murder charge earlier in the trial, cried hysterically when the verdicts were read out.
Ryan left the courtroom, threw himself against a wall and tore at his shirt.
Their father Paul Bradley
(54), who was acquitted of murder, consoled Dean and Jason as Mr Justice Paul Coffey refused bail and remanded them in custody until a sentencing hearing next Wednesday.
Members of victim Neil Reilly’s family were in court for the verdict and sobbed when it was read out.
Ryan Bradley will also have a sentence hearing on that date, having pleaded guilty to impeding the investigation into Mr Reilly’s death following his acquittal on the murder charge.
Dean and Jason, of Liscarne Gardens, Dublin 22, face mandatory life sentences having been convicted of the murder of Mr Reilly (36) at Esker Glebe in Lucan, Dublin, on January
18, 2017.
The court heard the Bradleys got to know Mr Reilly through his son Dean. Dean became best friends with Ryan and Jason when his father went to prison for drug dealing.
When his father left prison, Dean asked Paul Bradley to give him a job at the Bradley garage on the Naas Road.
Paul agreed and Neil worked as a mechanic for him for a short time. But, according to Dean Reilly’s evidence, Jason had amassed a debt of €9,000 to Mr Reilly, who started demanding his money in more and more threatening ways.
In December 2016, Mr Reilly broke into the Bradley home armed with garden shears and ransacked the house.
About one month later, Mr Reilly carried out a gun attack on the Bradley home.
He drove to Liscarne Gardens in a white van followed by an accomplice in a Mazda. He fired two shots that hit the house.
Mr Reilly was confronted by Jason Bradley and the two men fought.
Jason overpowered Mr Reilly and used a sharp weapon to beat him to death. Two blows to his head caused skull fractures.
As Mr Reilly lay in the road, Dean Bradley’s BMW arrived and he drove over Reilly causing crush injuries to the pelvis that a pathologist said could have been fatal on their own and contributed to death.
One witness said Dean’s BMW struck and ran over Mr Reilly three times.
Paul Bradley said he did nothing more than chase the deceased and kick him while he was fighting with Jason.
This, his lawyer argued, did not amount to murder and to find him guilty would be to blame him for his son’s actions.