Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
At long last – justice for Josh
THE sister of Josh Hanson, the young man stabbed to death by a complete stranger who then went on the run for three years, has paid an emotional tribute to her brother.
A jury took just 55 minutes on Tuesday last week to find Shane O’Brien guilty of murder.
O’Brien, 31, became one of Britain’s most wanted men after fleeing the country on a private plane.
He had slashed 21-year-old Josh’s neck in the RE Bar, in Eastcote , where his innocent victim had been enjoying a night out with his girlfriend and friends.
After the guilty verdict at the Old Bailey was returned Josh’s sister, Brooke, and his mum, Tracey, hugged friends and wiped away tears.
Brooke told reporters outside court: “My innocent brother got some justice today.
“I can never, ever bring him home. But I love you Josh and I know you’re here and I know you can hear us and we hope we’ve done you proud.”
His mum Tracey added: “We love you Josh, you know that though because you’re always with us, especially today.
“For us, for nearly four years, every day has been a challenge. It’s been a living nightmare.
“Today there are no more shadows cast upon my son, he is innocent, he was always innocent.”
Mrs Hanson drew attention to the prevalence of knife crime, saying she wanted to “make sure that life-changing experiences that happen to families such as ours don’t go forgotten, they’re not left by the wayside, they’re not yesterday’s news”.
O’Brien, 6ft tall and powerfully built, slashed 5ft 6ins Mr Hanson without warning at the Hillingdon bar in the early hours of October 11, 2015.
CCTV played in court showed Mr Hanson, who lived in Kingsbury , clutching his throat and stumbling as his horrified girlfriend watched blood pour out of a 37cm (14.5in) gaping wound from his left ear to right chest.
After calmly leaving the bar, O’Brien got a friend called “Vanessa” to secure a chartered four-seat plane to take him from Biggin Hill airport to the Netherlands.
The father-of-two grew long hair and a beard and got a tattoo of his daughter’s name covered over as he used false identity documents to travel to countries including Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
Friends helped the boxing and martial arts fan lay low after he was added to both Europol and Interpol’s most wanted lists.
Despite being arrested in Prague in 2017 for assault, he managed to slip through the net after using the alias Enzo Melloncelli and fleeing when released on bail.
Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, from Scotland Yard, described the hunt for O’Brien as “hugely challenging”, saying: “He was funded, provided with false documents, encrypted mobile phones, well beyond the capability of the ordinary criminal.”
O’Brien told jurors he had felt threatened by Mr Hanson’s “very aggressive body language” on the night, saying he felt the council worker was “ready to attack me” and may have been armed.
He claimed he had wanted only to “pretend to attack” Mr Hanson with the blade to “scare him”, adding: “From the bottom of my heart, I did not mean to touch him with that blade.”
But he showed no emotion as jurors convicted him of murder.
Mrs Hanson added: “I have always believed that justice would be served.
“There are no words. There really aren’t enough words in the dictionary to reflect how we feel.”
O’Brien will be sentenced on October 17.