Family's killer faces sentencing

Bradley had become a recluse and heavy cannabis user

An ex-soldier who shot four members of his family with a silenced pistol is due to be sentenced for the killings.

The bodies of Peter and Josie Purcell, both 70, and sons Keith, 44, and Glen, 41, were found after David Bradley walked into a Newcastle police station.

He had killed his aunt, uncle and cousins after "flipping out" at their home in Benwell Grove in July 2006.

The 41-year-old, who kept the gun from his Army days, admits manslaughter with diminished responsibility.

He will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday.

Bradley, who was a heavy cannabis user, lived as a virtual recluse in the bedroom of the house he shared with his four victims.

On 8 July 2006, after complaining of feeling "hot and bothered", he began smashing up his room before fighting with his cousin Keith.

He retrieved the pistol, shot Keith, and then killed his uncle who was asleep on the sofa.

His aunt and cousin Glen were shot at point-blank range when they returned home later that night.

The former soldier said he exchanged cigarettes for the pistol in Bosnia

Soon afterwards, the nearby West Road Police Station was evacuated when Bradley walked in to confess to the killings and placed a bagful of weapons on the counter.

Inside was a Thunderflash explosive device wrapped in nails, a 12-bore shotgun, two knives, and more than 400 rounds of ammunition.

In January this year, four murder charges against Bradley were dropped after two psychiatrists agreed he was mentally ill at the time of the killings.

Two medical experts, appearing for the prosecution and defence, also told the court the defendant's heavy cannabis habit may have contributed to the deterioration in his mental health.

Both experts agreed that he had not been suffering from Gulf War Syndrome.

Bradley had served as a Royal Artillery private in the first Gulf War, Bosnia and Northern Ireland.