A man charged with murder following the death of local DJ Chris Bradley in Byron Bay on Christmas Day will remain behind bars until the NSW Supreme Court decides whether or not he should be granted bail.
Javen O’Neill, 24, faced Lismore Local Court today after being arrested by detectives yesterday morning after stepping off an inbound plane from Sydney at the Ballina/Byron Gateway airport.
Mr O’Neill was refused bail to appear at the Lismore court today, but because of limited staffing over the Christmas period, the court was closed to the public and media.
Bail was granted by the Local Court registrar, however the prosecution lodged a stay of proceedings under Section 40 of the NSW Bail Act, which elevates the decision to the Supreme Court.
The prosecution has three business days to lodge a formal detention application with the Supreme Court.
Mr O’Neill will remain in custody until the Supreme Court decision.
Mr Bradley, who was also known by his DJ name ‘Dad Bod’, died around 11.30pm on Christmas night at a home on Carlyle Street, Byron Bay.
NSW Police Media had previously indicated that they were treating the death as a homicide’ and that it may have followed ‘an altercation’.
More to come
Meanwhile, Mr Bradley’s friends and family have taken to Facebook to express their grief at his passing.
His younger sister, Maddie Bradley said her brother had been involved in a ‘horrible incident’.
‘Who could do such a horrible thing to such an amazing man [?],’ Ms Bradley said in a Facebook post.
‘You lit up the room with your amazing, quirk[y] personality and laugh,’ she said.
‘Love you forever B-rad my big brother bear.’
Mr Bradley studied audio engineering at the SAE Institute and ran a small, independent events and artist management company called Atypical.