ACCORDING to police, murder victim Paul Brady should have been kidnapped under the cover of darkness and kept alive to be used in a ransom demand.

Paul Devalda, 35, was yesterday found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap and murder following more than 14 hours of jury deliberation.

Detectives firmly believe Devalda had planned to snatch the site foreman immediately after luring him to the Lynns Court complex, in Weir, on the night of Friday, July 31, 2009.

And they are convinced the gang had no intention of killing the father-of-four when they eventually abducted him the next day.

But a number of key errors and lack of planning were Devalda’s downfall.

On the afternoon of Friday, July 31, 2009, Devalda was filmed on CCTV buying a balaclava and gloves at Winfield’s in Haslingden.

Dressed in casual sportswear, he can be seen talking on his mobile phone as he pays cash for the items.

Just a few hours later, once it was dark, CCTV installed by a resident close to Lynns Court recorded a white Ford Galaxy arrive at the complex and leave 10 minutes later.

The car is seen to reappear but leave again one minute later with its lights off.

During that time, police say Devalda, or members of his gang, smashed the back doors of two empty houses at Lynns Court, and set a 3ft industrial firework off in one of them.

A resident made a 999 call to notify police of the activity, and almost immediately after, called the site manager, Mr Brady.

Up to this point the ambush was all going to plan, says Detective Superintendent Neil Hunter.

According to Mr Hunter, waiting nearby were between 10 and 15 balaclava-clad men, armed with baseball bats, metal bars and a sawn-off shotgun, ready to pounce.

But when Mr Brady arrived, the signal to attack never came because he had been a passenger in his fiancee Emma Dobson’s car.

Mr Hunter said: “We believe they did know what Paul Brady’s vehicle was but not what he looked like.

“They did not know him at all and that is what thwarted them, fortunately for Paul Brady at that point.

“They went away and had to formulate a plan b, and in desperation, instead of doing it in the dark they do it in broad daylight.

The following day Mr Brady arrived at the site at 9.54am with joiner David Collier to board-up the damaged properties.

Just over two hours later, Devalda was filmed on CCTV buying credit for a mobile phone at the Bargain Booze in Newchurch Road, Bacup.

When the gang pounced on Mr Brady and Mr Collier as they left the site at around 2.10pm, they tried to snatch both of them.

Mr Hunter said: “I think the fact that they did not know Paul Brady meant they did not know which one was him, so they were going to kidnap them both and sort it out later.”

But Mr Collier managed to break free from the clutches of the attackers, hitting one of them and tearing off his balaclava, before escaping by jumping into the River Irwell.

Mr Brady was then bundled into a van and driven away.

Witness Fiona Law was able to take down the registration of the white Ford Galaxy, which later turned out to be key to the investigation as police linked it to Devalda.

Mr Hunter said: “They were fortunate to get Paul Brady. I am convinced they did not know him.

“As soon as Paul Brady died they had no bargaining power and had to move on to the next job. As cold as it sounds, that’s how they operate.

“Did they hit him too hard, punch him too many times or did they decide to kill him later on? That is this six million dollar question.

“These are really violent, nasty people who will, if they have to, kill somebody. It's a by-product of what they are about.

“I thought from early on, after no ransom, that he was dead.”

Mr Brady’s body has never been found.

Mr Hunter, who led the investigation into the botched honour killing of Abdullah and Ayesha Mohammed at their home in London Road, Blackburn, in October 2009, said the probe into Mr Brady's kidnap and murder was more gargantuan than any other he had been involved in.

He said: "To put this enquiry into context, the London Road enquiry was massive for Lancashire, with 1,500 lines of enquiry.

“This one has involved 2,300 lines of enquiry, 1,100 statements and 4,000 documents in the system. It has been a mammoth enquiry."