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Murder accused spotted at Ashford Designer Outlet before fleeing country on private jet

By Berny Torre

A man left the country on a private jet after slitting a young man’s throat leaving a 15 inch long 'gaping wound', a court heard.

Shane O’Brien, 31, was spotted at Ashford Designer Outlet two days after the incident in 2015, but then fled the country when he flew on the private plane out of Biggin Hill.

Shane O'Brien
Shane O'Brien

O'Brien denies murdering 21-year-old Joshua Hanson on a night out almost four years ago.

Joshua had gone with his girlfriend to meet his cousin Rees Kennedy and friends who were visiting bars in Eastcote, north London, a trial at the Old Bailey heard.

They arrived at the RE Bar less than 20 minutes after O’Brien and his friends did at 12.26am on Sunday October 11, that year.

Mark Heywood QC, opening the case, described how O'Brien left the country after the killing.

O'Brien left Biggin Hill Ariport on a private jet
O'Brien left Biggin Hill Ariport on a private jet

Mr Heywood QC said: "He took a series of steps to avoid being found and eventually left the country."

He was eventually caught in Romania and extradited to Britain in March this year and later charged with the murder of Mr Hanson.

Mr Heywood added: "Later that same Sunday, the 11th of October, he is shown to have travelled from London towards Kent and Sussex in a black Volkswagen golf vehicle.

"It was recorded passing a camera on the M20 at 1.39 that afternoon."

Jurors heard he stayed in a caravan park before he bought new clothes and was recognised going into pubs in the county.

He was also spotted at the Ashford’s Designer Outlet while on the run and was placed on Interpol’s World’s Most Wanted List.

Ashford Designer Outlet
Ashford Designer Outlet

Staff recognised him from a witness appeal police had released and contacted officers on Wednesday, October 14.

However, O'Brien had already left the country on a private flight from Biggin Hill airport the day before.

Mr Heywood QC said: "An investigation there shows that at three o'clock or just after a privately owned Diamond Twin Star took off.

"It was there and certainly how the defendant left the country, in a privately owned aircraft."

O'Brien remained on the run until he was arrested on March 23 this year in Romania and later extradited to the UK.#

Shane O'Brien is accused of murder
Shane O'Brien is accused of murder

Mr Heywood described the incident in the bar to the jury in chilling detail.

He said O’Brien, of no fixed abode, came over the Mr Hanson instead of leaving after the lights in the bar came on at 1am, jurors heard.

Mr Heywood said: “He approached where Josh Hanson was standing, to do so he moved around another and then he stood in front of Joshua Hanson to his right and and close to him.

“The defendant said words to the effect, ‘what’s your problem?’

“Again Josh Hanson did not appear appear to react very much at all.

The trial is being heard at The Old Bailey
The trial is being heard at The Old Bailey

"He appeared to change his facial expression, perhaps in an attempt to pacify, but otherwise he, Josh Hanson, made no challenge or similar physical movement.

“What nobody noticed was what the defendant did at the very moment because with his right hand he moved it forward.

"You will conclude he wanted to reach the weapon he had on him.

“In the few seconds of the encounter, he went first to the area of the right pocket of his expensive jacket.

“The defendant’s manner during this was emphatic and confident according to one witness, rather than loud and demonstratively aggressive.

"He then brought it down in a sweeping, slashing motion, aimed at and striking the exposed skin of Josh Hanson’s ear, neck and chest." - Mr Heywood

"He seemed in control.

“You’ll see that it was the defendant who approached Josh Hanson and not the other.

“This part of it took less than ten seconds, as the CCTV pictures show.

"Five or six seconds after he reached for it he suddenly raised his right hand, holding the blade, to a level above the head of Josh Hanson.

"He then brought it down in a sweeping, slashing motion, aimed at and striking the exposed skin of Josh Hanson’s ear, neck and chest. It was a deliberate, swiping motion.

Josh Hanson had his throat slashed
Josh Hanson had his throat slashed

"The prosecution's case was that it intended to cause, at the very least of it, very serious injury to Josh Hanson with that razor-edged blade aimed of course at the vital structures of the neck.”

Mr Heywood QC added: “The way he used the knife was so concealed so out of the hand that it was only in fact one witness present saw what happened and that was one of the doormen.

“You will see what the defendant did after he delivered the blow - straightened and lowered his arm to that familiar position, he looked to see the damage he had done and then turned on his heel.”

Jurors heard Mr Hanson was pronounced dead around half an hour after he was slashed, thanks to a catastrophic injury he suffered.

Mr Heywood QC said: "This deliberate inflicted and catastrophic effect of the blow was so much that no amount of intervention could save Josh Hansen's life from this injury.

Mr Hanson was fatally injured at the RE Bar in Pinner
Mr Hanson was fatally injured at the RE Bar in Pinner

"He feel to the floor, he appeared soon to go unconscious.

"By luck one of those present was an off-duty nurse, potentially a matron, and she did what she could to help.

"The examination showed that Mr Hanson had sustained a very large gaping wound from the left side of his neck, across and over his chest, going almost to the right armpit."

The QC said Mr Hanson's heart flat-lined and emergency services stopped trying to revive him at 1.40am, adding: "Something like half-an-hour after the injury had been sustained."

He said the injury was 2cm deep and the QC added: "If you were to measure it, it would be 30cm in length, that's a better part of 15 inches. It gaped open.

"The muscles on the neck and chest were exposed."

The court also heard O'Brien used false passports, driving licences, and credit cards while on the run after slitting Mr Hansen's throat.

Jurors heard he used a driving licence in under a false Italian name.

The prosecutor added he also had a Danish false passport under the name Oliver Jackobsen.

"He also had a Capital One credit card in the name of Jake Tyler."

Jurors heard he also used a Canadian driving licence under Jeff Williams, a false American Express card and Australian driving licence.

Describing O'Brien's defence, Mr Heywood QC added: "He says that he didn't do so deliberately, that he acted in a spur of the moment, in circumstances that he perceived in order to ward off or perhaps to defend and that injury was not deliberately caused." The trial continues.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford

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