Diego Carbone: Leichhardt murder of Bradley Dillon

A member of a secretive Sydney fight club, convicted of a brutal carpark killing, has been labelled a “spineless coward” by members of the victim’s heartbroken family.

The mum of a man brutally stabbed and then shot five times in an inner-city carpark called the killer “a spineless coward” in court.

Diego Carbone was convicted for murder for his role in the merciless bludgeoning of 25-year-old Bradley Dillon on August 11, 2014.

The death was the result of an unpaid debt involving members of a secretive Sydney fight club.

Diego Carbone, led to a prison transfer van in 2018. Picture: Dan Himbrechts.

As Justice Peter Garling considered his sentencing, the court heard Mr Dillon’s family speak of their enduring heartbreak.

His mum broke down in tears, as she spoke of “the senseless, spineless way my son was taken”.

“These spineless cowards ambushed my son – all of Bradley’s injuries were from behind,” she said, referencing how Mr Dillon was shot as he ran away.

Mr Dillon’s three sisters also spoke of their brother, with Cassie Dillon describing the murder as leaving “a hole in my heart that can never be filled.”

Ms Cassie Dillon also remembered the last words her brother said to her.

“Stay safe … I will call you later. Love you, bye,” she recalled. “Bradley never left without saying ‘Love you, bye’.”

The family of Bradley Dillon leaving the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney in 2018. Picture: Dan Himbrechts.

The prosecutor described Carbone’s act as a “savage and unprovoked killing following a carefully planned and premeditated ambush”.

“ (Mr Dillon) did not provoke the ambush and the attack, he was simply trying to seek help to get the money that his sister was owed,” the prosecutor argued.

She further claimed Carbone’s continual claims of innocence revealed his lack of remorse.

However, the defence barrister, Mr Mark Tedeschi QC, questioned whether Carbone’s role in the killing of Mr Dillon could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Mr Tedeschi disputed the claim Carbone had intended to ambush Dillon from the beginning.

“In the absence of eyewitness evidence … your Honour could not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that it was (Mr Carbone) … who stabbed Mr Dillon,” he said.

Family of Diego Carbone leaving court in 2018. Picture: Dan Himbrechts.

Carbone was convicted of murder in 2018 and sentenced to two decades in prison.

In early 2021, the Court of Criminal Appeal overturned the decision and ordered Carbone to face a retrial for the killing.

But Justice Peter Garling was not convinced of his innocence and found Carbone guilty of murder for the second time.

Justice Garling reserved his judgment. Carbone has been in prison for six and half years in relation to the murder.