His voice has not been heard in public for 19 years, after he addressed a jury at his Nottingham Crown Court trial, protesting his innocence over the senseless killing of Marvyn Bradshaw, a 22-year-old shop fitter with no previous convictions from Top Valley. O'Brien was found guilty of his murder after a jury found he was the hooded gunman who blasted shots into a car Marvyn was driving, and who later died from his devastating injuries in hospital.
Aged 23 at the time, O'Brien, then from Wendover Drive in Aspley, was sentenced to life in prison July 2004, with the recommendation that he serve a minimum of 24 years, later reduced to 18 years. Now he has spoken on reformed ex-career criminal Marvin Herbert's YouTube channel, and revealed how, "I ****** up, and "I ****** up too many other peoples' lives".
Speaking on New Year's Eve, and referring to Marvin as "Bro" and "Brother", O'Brien, also known by the nickname "Jay", told of his reaction after learning his mother, Joan Stirland, 53, and step-dad, John, 55, had been killed - to be described later to a jury as being in revenge - because the gunmen could not get to O'Brien himself.
Read more: The notorious nicknames of Nottingham's biggest criminals
O'Brien, now in his forties, tells Marvin over the phone from prison, where his case has been referred to the Parole Board - but has not yet been through it's first stage, how he was told the news they were dead - six days after he was sentenced. He had been sent to maximum security Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, and he said: "I think I was there a day. They said, 'the chaplains there'. That's normal procedure when you get to a prison.
"I went to see the Chaplain, 'there's no easy way to tell you this, mate, your mum and dad got shot dead last night'. I couldn't believe it, Marv, six days after I got sentenced. I remember they give me 25 years, I was 23, they give 25 years, and then they come and told me that. Like it took a lot of turning round that, my Brother".
He was told he was now 'High-Risk Cat A'. "I'm going to pick up the phone, you can't use this phone," he was told, and, if he wanted any visits, 'you have got to give me their addresses'. He got one or two phone calls in six weeks.
"They comes me and said, 'you can't come to the funeral, and I said, 'why?' and they said, 'you are High-Risk Cat A'. And I said, 'I was Cat B, when that happened. You just made me, 'High-Risk Cat A the other day'.
"He said, 'yeah, but if you were to escape now, you'd want to kill someone, wouldn't ya?' I thought, 'all right he has got a point, yeah', but I didn't know what all this High-Risk Cat A **** was and all that".
The night O'Brien shot Marvyn Bradshaw the bullet was meant for Jamie Gunn, the nephew of Bestwood crime lord Colin Gunn, after an argument earlier that night outside the Sporting Chance pub, Bulwell, where there had been a lock-in.
Marvyn was driving best friend Jamie and friends away from the pub when Marvyn was shot in the back of his head and died later that day. But the tragic story did not end there. Jamie had witnessed his best friend being shot in front of him in the car.
Jamie's family said at the time the teenager never recovered from the trauma and pressed the self-destruct button. The 19-year-old saw O'Brien in court before he was jailed for Marvyn's murder. And, tragically, weeks later, on August 2, 2004, Jamie contracted pneumonia and died. Colin Gunn had decided on the ultimate revenge to get to O'Brien.
With his associates, he tracked O'Brien's mum and step-dad, originally from Carlton, to their bungalow in Trusthorpe - a haven they had hoped would distance them from O'Brien's criminal legacy. On August 8, 2004, the innocent couple were ruthlessly executed by two gunmen, wearing blue boiler suits. They have never been traced.
Mobile phone evidence put Gunn and his associates, Michael McNee and John Russell, near the Stirlands' home in the days before the murders. All three were convicted of conspiring to murder them.
O'Brien's time in prison
O'Brien told how he went to HMP Belmarsh (a Category-A men's prison in Thamesmead, south-east London). He said: "They locked me in that unit in Belmarsh, I'll never forget it, my Brother, it was like being put in a safe, like a bank safe.
"I was all a bit mad Marv at the time, honest to God I was. As you get older, and that and you start to look at things different, expecially as you have kids and grand kids.
O'Brien: "You know what it was, Marvin? Honestly it was so hard for the first, like I said, 10-15 years. I was kind of arguing with myself in my head because my heart wanted to do good, but my head wanted to do madness, Marv, yeah.
"And seeing the kids and the grandkids grow up and people around you that you love and you know that they miss you and that Marv, yeah, you know you just think you can't put them through this no more.
(Inaudible) "From for my heart, I don't think its what my mum would have wanted any way, Marv. My mum would have been like, 'what's that?' 'Forget all that' You get what I am saying Bro?
"It just has to be about coming home now, Marv, living a life, and trying to turn the negatives into positives, my Brother, as many as possible. And I think we can do a lot of good...help a lot of people along the way, Marv".
The broadcast, on New Year's Eve with Herbert, can be found on his channel, which lists his 'about info' as a man with 21 convictions for 76 offences, and "one of the baddest criminals on the planet". Surviving after being shot 5 times, 2 in the forehead and 3 to the body, Herbert has since dedicated his life to guiding the youth down the right path and away from crime.
Marvin says: "It's New Years and everyone is getting ready to go out. Twenty three people on. Just so you know, I was on the phone to one of my Brothers. He is doing life at the minute for er..a horrific crime.
"But the reason why I am speaking to him, because of the amount of remorse he shows, the ability he has got to change. Whilst he was in prison someone killed his mum and dad, and just made his life what was unbearable for my own beliefs.
"So we've been on the phone talking for a while now. We're going to develop a program on forgiveness from things like that because Jay's (O'Brien) an amazing character. Do you know what is the one question I'd like to ask is: Why forgive?
Read more: Notorious Nottingham killer Michael O'Brien has case referred to Parole Board
O'Brien: "You know what it is, my Bro. To be honest, Marvin, I'm kind of forgiving myself as well though. If I didn't forgive people, nothing's ever going to change, Marv, I'm going to end up sitting next to this toilet for the rest of my life. sick of seeing the toilet.
"I've got kids, I've got grand kids. I hurt a lot of people, Marv, doing what I did and, like, I have always said to you my boy, I think it is time to turn a lot of these negatives into positives, and let's make some good life-changing progress, Marvin, along the ways you know what I'm saying bro yeah".
O'Brien also says: "I think it took up 14 to 15 years to really to know myself, no , this negative has to be a positive. Too many people, innocent people as well, Marv, they suffered for that. And innocent people have already suffered.
A"nd I ****** up, and I f***** up too many other peoples' lives. I have got to live with my mum's thing. I have got to live with that until the day that I die. I think I got to get some postives, Marv. I think that would benefit everyone. And that's what I am going to be about".
READ NEXT:
- The Stirland killings: How a community will never forget the double tragedy
- Former undercover cop opens up on attempt to infiltrate Colin Gunn's empire
- David Gunn on the Stirland killings which jailed brother Colin for 35 years
- When Nottinghamshire's most notorious criminals are due for release from prison
- The killing which led to downfall of an empire...
