1960s trials, part 1: GOOD fortune turns to horror when the young son of a lottery winner is abducted in an extortion bid.

LOTTERY wins were once front page news.

And the 100,000 pound prize won by Sydney father Bazil Thorne was no exception.

Thorne was the owner of ticket 3932 in the tenth Opera House Lottery, set up to fund the harbour city’s future landmark.

Drawn on June 1, 1960, Thorne and his family including son Graeme, aged 8, would be pictured in the city’s newspapers as the lucky winners.

The money would be the equivalent of more than $2 million in today's money, but winners back then did not have the option of keeping their windfall private.

media_camera Bazil and Freda Thorne media_camera Graeme Thorne was just eight when he was abducted off the street and held in an extortion bid. Picture: NWN library

Good fortune turned to nightmare for the Thorne's when young Graeme, 8, was snatched off the street and held for ransom. Pictures: NWN library

media_camera The disappearance of Graeme Thorne amid an extortion threat triggered a huge level of public concern. Picture: HWT library

Reading those stories was Hungarian migrant and poker machine factory worker Stephen Leslie Bradley, 34.

He hatched a desperate plan to grab some of the winnings for himself.

Bradley spent the next five weeks watching the Thorne family’s Bondi flat, and following their movements.

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On July 7, Bradley was waiting in his 1955 blue Ford for Graeme, at the spot where he was usually picked up and driven to school.

After tricking Graeme into the car, Bradley drove to a corner of Centennial Park, tied a scarf around Graeme’s mouth and locked him in the boot.

media_camera Lottery results - including peoples' names and addreses were published in the 1960s, with the information proving dangerous for the Thornes. Picture: HWT library

On the way back home, Bradley stopped at a public telephone.

The friend who usually took Graeme to school had contacted Mrs Thorne to ask where he was.

And Mrs Thorne, who had been anxious since the lottery win, immediately called police.

They were there waiting when the call came – believed to have been Australia’s first ransom demand. Mrs Thorne answered.

A detective took the phone from her and said: “This is Mr Thorne here.”

“I have your boy,” the heavily accented Bradley said. “I want 25,000 pounds by five o’clock this afternoon or I’ll feed him to the sharks. I’ll contact you later.”

media_camera Stephen Leslie Bradley (Stephen Bradley), on trial for the kidnap and murder of Graeme Thorne. Thorne was kidnapped in relation to money his father Basil had won in the lottery. Pictured alone and with others.

Bradley drove home into his garage and opened the boot.

But Graeme was dead - or close to it.

The panicked kidnapper then strangled and bashed the boy before putting him back into the boot.

Bradley tied the child’s hands and feet, and wrapped his body in a checked rug.

He put the body back in the boot and drove to a vacant block of land he’d once thought of buying, and hid the body under a ledge of rock.

That weekend, police, the army, helicopters and dogs searched the Frenchs Forest bushland, finding Graeme’s school cap, raincoat, lunch box and books.

media_camera Forensic investigators found crucial clues on a picnic blanket they were able to link back to Stephen Leslie Bradley. Picture: NWN library

Meanwhile, an electrician told police he’d seen a boy fitting Graeme’s description getting into a blue Ford the morning of the abduction.

Police began checking records of blue Fords: one belonged to Bradley.

They questioned Bradley at the poker machine factory; he claimed he was moving house on the day and not in Bondi.

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In mid-August, about a month after the abduction, boys playing on the vacant land found Graeme’s body.

On hearing the news Bradley booked tickets for himself and his family on a ship, the Himalaya, to London, and set sail on September 23.

media_camera Stephen Leslie Bradley is escorted by police after his arrest in Colombo for 07/07/60 kidnapping & murder of Graeme Thorne (8) in Sydney.HistoricalNew South Wales (NSW) / Crime

An examination of the rug found dog hairs and bleached human hairs.

There were also traces of pink mortar and cypress tree twigs: both clues could be connected back to the house Bradley had lived in before fleeing.

At the house, they found a roll of undeveloped film.

One photo showed a family picnic. There was a pekinese dog and it showed Mrs Bradley with dyed blonde hair, sitting on a rug that looked the same as the one used to wrap Graeme’s body.

Detectives flew to Sri Lanka, and were waiting to arrest Bradley when the Himalaya stopped on its way to London.

After five weeks of extradition hearings, he was sent back to Sydney.

The trial began on March 20, 1961.

There were so many spectators that people were willing to camp outside the court to secure a spot in the public gallery.

Bradley pleaded not guilty, but the evidence gathered through the use of early forensic techniques built a strong case against him.

He gave evidence in his own defence and denied kidnapping Graeme.

But the jury found him guilty, and on March 29 he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

When he was sentenced, the court erupted in cheers, and the cry: ‘Feed him to the sharks!”

He died in Goulburn jail on October 6, 1968.

Originally published as The lotto kidnapping