Man sentenced following death of 28-year-old DJ

A 25-year-old man has just been sentenced to jail for a maximum of eight years and three months, following the death of Australian DJ Chris Bradley.

According to the ABC, Javen O’Neill, a personal trainer, pled guilty to manslaughter, after punching Bradley at a house party in Byron Bay, in December 2017.

The Lismore District Court, which heard the case, heard that O’Neill’s unprovoked attack occurred after binging and being under the influence of a “considerable” amount of alcohol and cocaine. Witnesses to the attack say they saw O’Neill engaging in a conversation with Bradley, after which O’Neill suddenly struck the 28-year-old Bradley in the head.

Victim impact statements delivered by members of the victim’s family were heard in court. They describe Bradley as funny, caring and respectful. Siblings of Bradley exclaimed a level of devastation at the fact their children would never have an uncle.

Bradley, who DJ’d under the pseudonym DAD BOD, was known as being a fixture in the Byron Bay music scene.

The court was then told that paramedics were called to the scene around 11pm, with attempts to revive Bradley failing. It’s reported that O’Neill struck Bradley in the head multiple times, before he fell to the ground, where he died.

The judge presiding over the case, Laura Wells delivered a sentencing statement which reads: “You punched another person for no apparent reason, and before he had even lifted a finger in defence, you pummelled him mercilessly,”

“You might think that your situation is most unfortunate, and indeed it is, you didn’t intend to take Mr Bradley’s life in that brief explosion of violence… but you did.”

“So while you are unfortunate, you are not as unfortunate as Mr Bradley and his family.”

Mr O’Neill has been sentenced to a total of eight years and three months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of five years and nine months.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.