A man who has been called "one of the world's most wanted" has been found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey today.

The jury convicted Shane O'Brien - who was last seen at the Ashford Designer Outlet before going on the run for three-and-a-half years - after only 55 minutes of deliberation.

Shane O'Brien spent years on the run

Josh Hanson had his ear, throat and chest slit open with a Stanley knife during an unprovoked attack at the RE Bar in Field End Road, Eastcote on Sunday, October 11 four years ago.

The court heard how 6ft-tall Shane O'Brien approached 5ft 6in Mr Hanson and his girlfriend - neither of which he knew - at 1.01am.

Despite being confused by O'Brien's aggression, the 21-year-old victim didn't react to the then 27-year-old - however the taller man then asked "What's your problem?"

A Met Police spokesman said: "As he spoke he put his hand in his right pocket and pulled out a Stanley knife.

"Keeping it down by his thigh, he opened the blade.

"Five seconds later he raised his hand and with considerable force slashed it down across Josh’s ear, throat and chest, causing a 37cm gaping wound and catastrophic injuries.

"O’Brien paused for a moment, almost to confirm his actions had had the desired effect, before lowering his arm to conceal the weapon.

"He then turned, folded up the Stanley knife, and walked calmly and purposefully towards the exit."

While a friend then drove O'Brien to the White City area, Mr Hanson's friends and an off-duty nurse attempted to save his life.

Despite paramedics arriving, he died at 1.40am.

CCTV and DNA from the club positively identified O'Brien as the killer and two warrants were issued on two properties.

Though he had disappeared a number of knives were found, including a two other Stanley knives, a flick knife, a machete and a hatchet.

Meanwhile, O'Brien had journeyed to Camber Sands holiday park, with CCTV showing him relaxed as he enjoyed a drink at a nearby pub and an Indian meal.

The Met Police statement continues: "On Tuesday, 13 October O’Brien and a friend drove to Ashford Designer Outlet retail park in Ashford, Kent – CCTV footage showed the movements of their vehicle, a VW Golf.

"They visited several designer shops – O’Brien was caught on camera carefully selecting and trying on shirts and trousers before paying in cash.

"He also bought a suitcase and took time to have lunch."

Later that day he travelled to London's Biggin Hill and fled to the Netherlands in a privately chartered plane.

The National Crime Agency, Europol and Interpol started to work together, and he appeared on Most Wanted lists around the world - garnering a £50,000 reward for information at the manhunt's peak.

Lead officer on the case, DCI Noel McHugh, said: "We had nearly a hundred potential sightings and we followed up every one - from Lidl in London to Luxemburg.

"At one point we believed he was in Dubai and did a lot of work with authorities there to try to track him. He also had links to Spain, France and Ireland.

“In February 2017 he messed up – getting arrested and bailed in Prague for a minor scuffle in a club.

"It meant we were able to obtain up-to-date images of him, which revealed he’d had a distinctive tattoo on his back of his children’s name covered up by an owl holding a skull, had a full beard and had grown his hair. He was also using Italian aliases."

On Thursday, March 21 this year, DCI McHugh was contacted by O’Brien’s solicitor who said his client - now 31 - was considering handing himself in and proposed a meeting in Budapest.

The location was then changed to Romania and urgent enquiries began to try to trace exactly where O’Brien was.

The Romanian authorities were alerted and O’Brien detained on Saturday, 23 March.

The murderer was extradited back to Britain on April 5 and appeared in court the following day.

Following today's guilty verdict, DCI McHugh said: "This is the day I, and certainly Josh’s family, almost feared would never come – O’Brien finally convicted of that unprovoked and vicious attack in a bar in Eastcote close to four years ago. And we still do not have a clear answer – why?

“Regardless, the evidence against O’Brien was strong from the start.

However, he still denied his guilt and forced Josh’s family to undergo the trauma of a trial."

Josh Hanson's mum, Tracey, said: "Today after nearly four years and shy of two weeks before Josh’s fourth year anniversary justice was served.

"A jury of 12 members of the public delivered a guilty verdict based on the evidence provided to them.

"Josh was innocent and the attack on him was totally unprovoked and we hope that a whole life term will be handed down by the judge at sentencing.

“While we continue to navigate through life without Josh we shall continue to work hard to change the story about knife crime in Josh’s name as we have done since his untimely and unnecessary death.

"We will continue to do all that we can to help make positive changes in our society by sharing Josh’s story and help educate others about the dangers of carrying a knife."

Sentencing will take place on Thursday, October 17.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here

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

To get the latest updates in ongoing cases, police appeals and criminals put behind bars, click here

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford