A JURY has been discharged today after two men confessed to plotting to kidnap an East Lancashire housing manager then killing him.

Father-of-four Paul Brady was abducted by a gang of 10 to 15 from a complex off Beaufort Road, Weir, near Bacup, on August 1, 2009.

Mr Brady, from Rochdale, was last seen being dragged into the back of a waiting car and not been since.

Today two of the gang, Daniel Jones, 28, and Michael Dunphy, 39, confessed to their involvement in the kidnapping and his manslaughter.

Jones, of New Mansion House Cottages, Bacup, and Dunphy, of Greenside, Farnworth, were remanded in custody for pre-sentence reports until November 11 by Mr Justice Royce at Preston Crown Court.

Each had denied murder, manslaughter and conspiracy to kidnap charges.

But on the fifth day of an estimated four-week trial they pleaded guilty to the two latter offences.

Paul Devalda, 28, of Burnley Road, Padiham, was convicted of Mr Brady’s murder at a Liverpool Crown Court trial earlier this year and is currently serving a life sentence.