Jordan Bottom and Rikki Smith: Vigilantes jailed for well planned attack on Bradley Lyons

Two men involved in a vigilante plot to terrorise a rumoured paedophile have been jailed over their roles in his abduction and torture.

Bradley “BJ” Lyons, 30, vanished from the regional Victorian town of Lakes Entrance in December 2018 amid rumours he was “supposedly” sexually abusing children.

Almost four months later his body was found by police bound and facedown in a shallow bush grave near Double Bridges.

On Friday, two men involved in the plot, Jordan Bottom, 25, and Rikki Smith, 26, returned before the Victorian Supreme Court where they were both jailed for the offending.

More than two dozen family and friends filled the courtroom, waving and smiling as the two men entered.

Handing down his sentence, Justice Andrew Tinney said both Bottom and Smith had been acquitted of Mr Lyons’ murder following a jury trial earlier this year but were found guilty of other charges including assault and false imprisonment.

Both men were present when Mr Lyons was shot in the head by Albert Thorn, 58 — who was sentenced to life imprisonment earlier this week.

“The jury were not satisfied either one of you were a party to murder,” Justice Tinney said.

“Therefore I will sentence you on the basis that what was in your mind was to inflict complete terror on BJ. No doubt you succeeded.”

The court was told Bradley Lyons was asleep in bed on December 2 when four men, including Thorn and Smith, burst through the door and violently attacked him.

Mr Lyons was bundled into the back of a car and taken to Thorn’s rural farming property where he was left “badly beaten” in the boot for several hours.

Later the same night, Bottom and Smith, following the instructions of Thorn, pulled him out and strapped him to a metal massage table where he was further assaulted in an effort to extract a confession.

Justice Tinney said the badly decomposed remains of Mr Lyons meant he was unable to make findings as to the extent of his injuries.

But he said from accounts given to police by Bottom, Mr Lyons was tortured and had boiling water poured on him but “maintained his innocence”.

Hours later still, the three men drove Mr Lyons to the remote location, clearing scrub and digging a grave before he was shot by Thorn.

At trial, lawyers for both Bottom and Smith had argued they didn’t know he was going to be killed, believing it was a continuation of an elaborate plot to scare him out of town.

Justice Tinney said the ordeal suffered by Mr Lyons was “truly shocking”, noting his treatment at the hands of Smith and Bottom was of “violence's and disdain”.

“You had a strong hatred of paedophiles,” he said.

“Yours were not spontaneous or impulsive acts, these were well planned and well carried out acts of vigilantism.

“Your crimes were an affront to normal decent society”.

Smith, who was convicted of false imprisonment, assault and intentionally causing injury, was sentenced to 10 and a half years imprisonment and will be eligible for parole in February 2026.

Bottom, who Justice Tinney noted had cooperated with police and led them to Mr Lyons body, was jailed for nine years and will be eligible for parole in February 2025.

Their sentences mark the end to criminal prosecutions over Mr Lyons’ murder, with seven people in total convicted over their roles in his disappearance.

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