Inside story of shotgun murder that led to innocent couple being executed in their bungalow as gunman makes parole bid
A KILLER whose own parents were tracked down and murdered by gangsters could now be set for freedom.
Michael O’Brien, shot 22-year-old Marvyn Bradshaw dead outside a Nottingham pub in August 2003.
Mr Bradshaw was a friend of Jamie Gunn, who was a member of a Nottingham based crime family.
Senior members of the Gunn family, who controlled the city’s Bestwood estate, suspected the bullet that killed Mr Bradshaw was meant for Jamie and vowed revenge.
Although Jamie was physically unharmed in the incident, his family said he never recovered from the ordeal. His mental and physical health declined before he died of pneumonia on August 2 2004.
Crime boss Colin Gunn used contacts he had with corrupt BT workers to track down O’Brien’s step-dad John and Joan Stirland to a remote Lincolnshire bungalow. The couple were both shot dead by gunmen on August 8 2004.
An inquest into their deaths heard that Mrs Stirland had contacted her family liaison officer shortly before 2pm to report a stalker.
By the time the police checked in on the couple that night they had been murdered.
The court heard that the detectives failed to hand over vital information to about a shooting linked to the Gunn family to the officers protecting the Stirlands.
After the murder Colin Gunn used a relationship with corrupt police officer Charles Fletcher to try and find out how the investigation was developing.
Fletcher later pleaded guilty to corruption charges and jailed for seven years.
Gunn, 40, of Nottingham, was jailed in 2006 following his conviction for conspiracy to murder the Stirlands.
Co-defendants John Russell, 29, and Michael McNee, 22, were jailed for 30 and 25 years respectively, in 2006.
O’Brien was convicted of murdering Mr Bradshaw and jailed for life in July 2004.
O’Brien’s 18-year tariff expires this year. The Parole Board for England and Wales has confirmed that his case is now ready to be “listed”, reports the Nottingham Post.