Bradley Blundell: Teen who gunned down electrician John Pordage at petrol station jailed for life

  • Video report by ITV News Anglia's Hannah Pettifer

A teenager found guilty of murdering an electrician outside a petrol station in Chelmsford has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 22 years.

Bradley Blundell, 19, shot John Pordage in August 2017 at the BP petrol station in Baddow Road.

He attacked Mr Pordage and a friend after one of them allegedly made a flirtatious comment about his friend Ella Colgate.

According to a witness, the row reached boiling point when either Mr Pordage or his friend called Blundell "the Milky Bar Kid", the court heard when a jury convicted him in December.

John Pordage was captured on CCTV walking past the car that Blundell was in. Credit: Essex Police

Blundell then fired two shots, one of which struck Mr Pordage in the chest, before fleeing the scene and leaving Mr Pordage to die in the street.

Following the shooting, Blundell went on the run before eventually handing himself in at a police station in Amsterdam in March 2018.

Sentencing him at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, the judge said that Blundell had "callously and deliberately" shot Mr Pordage after losing his temper.

Ella Colgate was jailed for 12 months. Credit: Essex Police

Co-defendant Ella Colgate, who had driven Blundell to and from the scene of the shooting, was convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and was jailed for 12 months.

Mr Pordage's mother Sue Wilson described Blundell as "evil and calculated."

“Blundell was 17 at the time he shot John. A child. For me, the reality is that he and his gang were out at 2am committing crime whilst armed. Although they were kids in age, their actions on that night were not the actions of children," she said.

“Blundell is evil and calculated. He left my son to die after shooting him in the heart. And over what? John had been laughing and joking with his friend when he and his gang came back to attack.

“My son was murdered by a senseless, cruel hooligan that thought it was okay to go out with weapons and take an innocent person’s life. When Blundell and his friends have completed their sentences, they will be able to carry on with their lives.

“John will never get to do any of the things he so enthusiastically planned."