‘Most wanted’ man is jailed for knife murder

ONE of Britain’s most wanted fugitives who evaded justice for three and a half years has been jailed for life for a “grotesque” and “totally unnecessary” murder.

Shane O’Brien, 31, slashed the neck of Josh Hanson, 21, in an act of “pitiless savagery” at a west London bar before fleeing the UK in a private plane.

The father of two used false travel documents to evade police until he was arrested in Romania and brought back to Britain in April.

He was found guilty of Mr Hanson’s murder after an Old Bailey jury deliberated for 55 minutes.

Mr Hanson’s mother, Tracey, and sister, Brooke, read out emotional victim impact statements as he appeared to be sentenced yesterday.

Tracey Hanson tearfully described her son as a “considerate, kind and generous” man who was a “rising star” in his work.

She told the court: “On the 11th October 2015 my life changed forever.”

She received a call to say he had been stabbed in the early hours and was 10 minutes away when he died.

She told the court: “He was taken from us in the most horrific way possible – suddenly, abruptly, viciously and violently.”

Ms Hanson said she had been unable to grieve for him without justice.

Brooke Hanson said: “Josh was not just my brother, he was my best friend.”

She said his smile was “infectious” and his presence “magical”.

She told the court she suffered from anxiety and post-traumatic stress, always wondering if she could have protected him from the “evil” that took him away.

Grandmother Mary Hanson said in a statement read on her behalf that at the age of 80 she did not want to carry on when her grandson died.

She wrote: “There is not a day when I don’t think about my grandson. I cry for him every day, what he went through and how he suffered.”

Judge Nigel Lickley QC jailed O’Brien for life with a minimum term of 26 years.

The judge said: “This was a grotesque, violent and totally unnecessary attack on an innocent man.

“The reason why you behaved in such a way may never be fully explained. You, however, know the reason.”

Having slashed the victim with a blade, O’Brien “calmly” walked away, leaving Mr Hanson to drown in his own blood in front of “shocked and traumatised” friends, the judge said.

There were angry shouts of “coward” from the public gallery as O’Brien was led from the dock.

During his Old Bailey trial, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the attack on roads planner Mr Hanson in the early hours of October 11, 2005.

Mr Hanson could be seen clutching his throat and stumbling as his horrified girlfriend watched blood pour out of a 37cm (14.5in) 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 court heard.

O’Brien denied murder.