GAA brawl wife avoids jail over prison governor’s glowing reference

A prison governor has helped keep GAA brawl wife Kerri Bradley OUT of his jail by handing the court a glowing reference.

Earlier this year the Sunday World newspaper revealed how former Derry GAA star Niall Bradley and his respected HR boss wife Kerri were convicted of assaulting another couple in a shocking boozed-up brawl that was caught on camera.

The disgraced pair – both aged 38 and well known in GAA circles in Derry – were filmed in a late-night video nasty last October outside a takeaway in Magherafelt.

The former footballer was filmed launching a volley of punches on Dylan Wilkinson, while his award-winning HR boss wife Kerri is caught on camera assaulting his fiancée Allanah Mullan and throwing her out onto the road.

The couple have appeared at Newry Magistrate’s Court and despite being told by Deputy District Judge Browne that their behaviour was “absolutely disgraceful” and that the custody threshold had been met, they walked away with suspended sentences.

And incredibly, instrumental in that, in Kerri Bradley’s case, was the reference handed to the judge from the man who would have been her prison governor had she been jailed.

Their defence barrister Liam McStay told the court: “In respect of Kerri there is an impressive reference from the governor of Hydebank Wood who again is someone who is skilled and knows the issues.

“He has made an entry into that matter which is that he makes it very clear he didn’t know anything about this matter when he was asked for a reference but Mrs Bradley told him why she needed the reference, what she was convicted of doing and he was impressed enough to make remark about it in the reference he has given.”

Remarkably during the hearing it was claimed in court by Niall Bradley that he is disabled – news that led the judge to remark later how that didn’t stop him assaulting his victims “with relish”.

Mr McStay said of his client: “Mr Bradley was an active and high-level sportsman who suffered a very, very serious injury to his knee about three years ago.

“He was laid completely flat by that and he has been permanently disabled by that and he has a blue badge and he has very limited mobility.”

Niall played senior football for Derry a decade ago but his club career at Greenlough GAC was cut short in 2021 after a horrendous injury which saw him being taken to hospital in the NI Air Ambulance to save part of his leg.

Mr McStay went on to say the injury three years ago had an influence on the couple’s behaviour the night of the attack.

“This night out was the first night out this young family had after all of that time and the stress it had put on the family,” said Mr McStay.

“It was the first night that they went out for a family meal and some alcohol was taken, no question about it.

“A very, very intense time for this family both financially and physically concerning and mentally concerning the injury and the effect that was having on family finances and family life.

“It was very clear for the potential for his disability after to be even more devastating, but he has recovered quite well.

“This couple were well out of their comfort zone with what they actually did, that’s the stress they were living with in the months and years prior to this incident, it’s entirely out of character.”

Kerri and Niall Bradley, who have two children, were, until last year, part of a joint management team of the Derry GAA minor camogie team.

When the Sunday World newspaper exclusively published the images from the video eight months ago, the Bradleys admitted they had been very drunk but said they hadn’t been the aggressors and the video had given a “distorted” view.

But their version was completely discounted in June when, at Magherafelt Magistrates’ Court, sitting in Derry, they were convicted of all charges against them.

They both stood accused of assaulting the couple in Queen Street, Magherafelt, on October 1 outside a fast food takeaway.

Niall Bradley had already pleaded guilty to the most serious charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on Mr Wilkinson, who was left with two black eyes and a nasty head wound.

But he has since been further convicted of common assault on Allanah Mullan and also of disorderly behaviour.

Kerri Bradley contested all the charges against her – assaulting both Mr Wilkinson and his partner and disorderly behaviour – despite a video clearly showing her pushing Miss Mullan onto the street.

In court Kerri Bradley gave evidence in vain that she and her husband had been the victims, goaded into a fight with the other couple, but Kerri and her thug husband Niall were shown to be the aggressors.

CCTV footage taken from the takeaway was showed several times to the court and a prosecuting barrister was able to show Kerri Bradley’s version of events were pure fantasy.

However, the court was told Kerri has “reflected on her own position and you’ll see in the pre-sentence report that she accepts, regardless of her initial motivation, she has gone far in excess of what anybody should do in those circumstances.

“Her fall from grace is extreme, she has lost a very good professional job and her prospects… are much poorer as a result of her behaviour on this night and she accepts this falls on herself.”

Sentencing the pair, District Judge Browne said: “Regarding the references, they were unanimously positive but I doubt very much if they would have been impressed if they had watched the video recording that I had to view in deciding this case.

“The behaviour of both people was absolutely disgraceful and as a result, not only has their reputation in public been diminished but they both have significant criminal records.

“Regarding Kerri Bradley, she behaved in a way which was completely over the top… I do note that Mr Bradley said in his probation interview that one of the injured parties had made comments about his weight and his appearance when in fact the clear evidence given to the court [by his wife Kerri during the contest hearing] that those comments were about his wife.

“I’m not sure which version was true but clearly somewhere along the line it has either been mis-recorded by the probation officer, which I somehow doubt, or there has been a mixed message coming out of the Bradley household.

“Regarding Mr Bradley, his behaviour was extraordinary. I’m no medical expert but for somebody suffering from a disability he, with relish, became involved not once but twice in his assault on the injured party and certainly portrayed no hesitation or reluctance to become involved because of his leg injury.

“The custody threshold has been passed and I reminded the parties that the video evidence certainly makes it many times worse than simply reading out the simple facts and the behaviour I viewed was shocking – and I’m not easily shocked.”

Kerri Bradley was sentenced to two months in jail while her husband was sentenced to a total of five months behind bars but the judge said “in view of the surrounding factors” he would suspend them for 18 months.

In June 2022 Kerri Bradley accused the Derry County Board of leaving her husband “high and dry” after refusing payments after her husband’s injury.

She told the County Derry Post he was still unable to walk properly a year after the incident.

“Niall is still in pain, still on morphine, still unable to walk properly, is still attending the RV Hospital fortnightly, is still not back to work full-time and won’t be able to play sports again,” she said at the time.

“However the GAA, instead of supporting this player on his 19th season of senior football, left him high and dry.”

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