A father-of-two who became one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives has been jailed for life for murder and will serve a minimum of 26 years.
Shane O’Brien fled the country on a private plane after slashing 21-year-old Josh Hanson’s neck in an act of “pitiless savagery” at a west
London bar in 2015.
Council worker Hanson clutched his neck as his horrified girlfriend watched blood pour out of a 37cm gaping wound from his left ear to the righthand side of his chest.O’Brien then calmly walked out of RE Bar in Hillingdon in the early hours of October 11 before enlisting the help of a friend called “Vanessa” to secure a private four-seat plane to take him from Biggin Hill airport to the Netherlands, the Old Bailey heard at his trial where he was convicted of murder.
After an international manhunt O’Brien was finally arrested in Romania on March 23 and brought back to
Britain on April 5.
The 31-year-old grew long hair and a beard and got the tattoo of his child’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 avoid authorities after he was added to both Europol and Interpol’s most wanted lists, his trial heard.
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.
O’Brien told jurors he had felt threatened by Mr Hanson’s “very aggressive body language”, saying he felt the roads planner was “ready to attack me” and may have been armed.
At bar closing time, he approached Mr Hanson, asking him “what’s your problem?” before pulling the knife from a pocket of his expensive
Canada Goose jacket and fatally slashing his victim.
O’Brien claimed he 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 jurors convicted him of murder after 55 minutes of deliberations.Related... Murder Investigation Launched After 39 Bodies Found In Essex Lorry Container Fugitive Who Evaded Police For 17 Years Is Finally Tracked Down By A Drone How Two Teenage Fugitives Wanted For Murder Led Canadian Police On A 2,000 Mile Manhunt