Flats residents hope notorious thug and drug dealer will finally be evicted after he was jailed

The 53-year-old was one of four men jailed for his part in a kidnapping plot that also involved ex-UDA boss Dee Coleman, though he is due to be sentenced at a later date.

We can reveal party animal, and neighbour from hell, Bradshaw partied all the way to the end and cops even raided his flat a few weeks ago as part of a “targeted” drugs bust on the notorious block of flats.

The Sunday World first exposed Bradshaw’s picture after he was charged with kidnapping a man who was brutally tortured and left for dead in a field.

It emerged at the time residents of an apartment block where Bradshaw had been housed were furious when he was released on bail on medical grounds, claiming to be ill and unable to walk 100 metres.

But in truth Bradshaw was a serial drug user and dealer who had got involved in the sickening plot to try and murder a man over a suspected drug debt.

The beleaguered tenants of 52-54 High Street, where notorious heroin kingpin Noel Johnston plunged to his death as cops launched a raid on his flat, have been fighting with the housing association ever since they all moved into the new block of apartments four years ago.

Last year we revealed how tenants had been living in hell as drug addicts and dealers made their lives a misery with their anti-social behaviour, including openly selling drugs and hosting 24-hour drink and drug-fuelled parties.

We told of how residents were living in fear after Mark Bradshaw — described in court as a notorious career criminal whose fourth floor apartment Johnston jumped from — was released on bail as he awaited trial.

And their fears were justified as Bradshaw continued to cause mayhem for those living around him and seemingly without any punishment.

Wild parties and drug deals were a regular occurrence at the block of flats which was designated for vulnerable people and housed people at risk and young families.

“We just want him to be evicted now that he’s been jailed for such a serious offence,” said a former resident who had to leave the apartment block because of damage to their mental health.

“People like Mark Bradshaw made everyone’s lives a misery in what should have been a safe space to live. The apartments themselves are really nice but putting people like Bradshaw in there was a disgrace.

“For him to be accused of kidnapping that poor man they dumped in a field and then release him on bail is even worse. He must have known he’d be jailed for that so he has been going full tilt partying I’m told by those still having to live near him.”

Police confirmed they raided a number of properties in the area but nobody was arrested.

We understand cops put the doors in of four or five apartments at the block of flats and Bradshaw’s was one that got searched five weeks ago.

In a statement about the operation they told us: “District Support Team officers with support from colleagues from Tactical Support Group (TSG) conducted a planned search of a number of properties in the High Street area of Ballymena on Friday 5th April, following reports of anti-social behaviour in the area.

“During the searches, a number of items including a quantity of a suspected class B controlled substance, phones and other items were discovered and have been removed for further examination.

“Police are actively committed to removing dangerous drugs from our streets, and will proactively investigate and carry out searches to disrupt this activity and those involved in the drugs trade.”

Unfortunately, despite being jailed for 67 months or just over five-and-a-half-years, Mark Bradshaw will serve less than a year behind bars having already served 22 months on remand and with a judge ordering half his sentence to be served on licence.

But residents at 52-54 High Street are hoping even when he is released he is housed somewhere else.

Bradshaw was released on medical grounds last September with the court being told he can barely walk 100 yards and often used a wheelchair in Maghaberry.

Residents said Bradshaw seemed pretty mobile when he was partying and dealing drugs in and around the apartments.

Belfast Crown Court heard disturbing details of the plot to kidnap the man who was beaten, stabbed, bundled into the boot of a car then dumped in a field near Broughshane.

The victim, who was abandoned wearing only his boxer shorts, was discovered by binmen and suffered permanent and life-changing injuries.

Speaking outside the court Detective Inspector McCoy said: “The attack on the victim…is one of the most violent, sickening and sadistic attacks I have ever investigated.

“The victim was subjected to a prolonged assault. He was severely beaten, forced to strip down to his boxer shorts, and made to use his clothes to clean up his own blood.

“The victim was on the floor and unable to defend himself when he was stabbed in the chest with a knife, then slashed on both sides of the face. Throughout the nightmarish attack, the victim was kicked, while continually forced to wipe up the blood. Meanwhile, the defendants laughed.

“This man was then taken by car and dumped, like an object, in a field near Broughshane.

“The man remained in intensive care under sedation for a number of weeks. And the list of injuries sustained is both lengthy and distressing.

“They include a stab wound to his chest, fracture and detachment of the jaw, injuries to his face and roof of the mouth, and a fracture to the base of the skill. He has sustained permanent damage to facial nerves, permanent blocking of a main artery to the brain, and a permanent brain injury.”

Mark Bradshaw, Glenn Allen Sheridan (45) from Florence Walk in Belfast, and 41-year-old David Philip Cherry, whose address was given as HMP Maghaberry, all admitted a charge of kidnapping the injured party.