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This chilling footage shows how a cold-blooded murderer casually shopped for clothes at a shopping outlet in Ashford, after he'd callously slashed a man's throat.
Shane O’Brien, 31, had just days before his shopping spree, killed 21-year-old Josh Hanson in a completely unprovoked attack in a London bar.
Watch the moment O'Brien (blue arrow) approaches Josh Hanson (green arrow) in the bar where he was killed before he casually goes shopping for designer clothes
After casually walking away from the crime scene, O'Brien, later drove to Kent and went shopping at the Ashford Designer Outlet with an associate.
He later turned into one of the world's most wanted men as he chartered a private jet from Biggin Hill Airport and went on the run for three-and-a-half years.
The jury at the Old Bailey took just 55 minutes to convict O'Brien who is originally from Ladbroke Grove, in West London.
He will be sentenced at the same court later this month.
Josh, who was from Kingsbury, was on a night out with friends when his throat was slashed.
After calmly leaving the bar, O’Brien later chartered the private jet from the airport in Bromley and left the country.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police launched a world-wide manhunt and three-and-a-half years later, they finally caught up with him.
He was found and arrested in Romania.
Timeline of events: The murder
During the early hours of Sunday, October 11, at about 00.45am, Josh and his girlfriend met up with friends at the RE Bar in Field End Road, Eastcote.
O’Brien, who Josh didn’t know, had arrived about 15 minutes earlier and was also with friends.
The only interaction between the two groups was when one of O’Brien’s friends briefly spoke to one of Josh’s without incident.
CCTV showed O’Brien sitting on a sofa at the back of the bar just opposite where Josh and his girlfriend and friends were.
At 1.01am, O’Brien stood up and walked around a table and others people to reach Josh.
O’Brien, at 6ft and powerfully built, towered over 5ft 6ins Josh, who is clearly confused by O’Brien’s aggression.
However, Josh didn’t react and O’Brien said something like: “What’s your problem?”
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 out of the bar.
He crossed Field End Road towards the junction with Monford Road and got into a small white van driven by a friend which took him to the White City area.
Back in the bar, Josh’s friends tried to hold him as he collapsed on the floor while others rushed to help.
Paramedics battled to save his life, but he died at 1.40am.
The aftermath:
A murder investigation was launched and footage was quickly seized which clearly showed the attack and detectives were able to carefully scan the footage to identify which drinking cups left on tables O’Brien had used that night.
Two were identified and from those fingerprints and DNA recovered that proved a match for O’Brien.
Warrants were executed at addresses he was known to have access to in the Ruislip and Notting Hill areas.
He was not there but a number of knives were found including two other Stanley knives, a flick knife, a machete and a hatchet.
Inquiries revealed after attacking Josh, O’Brien left London around lunchtime on the day of the murder October and travelled to a holiday park in Camber Sands.
He had made the arrangements while fleeing the scene of the murder in the white van.
At about 7pm that evening, O’Brien and a friend went into a local pub.
They returned the following night and in conversation with bar staff O’Brien said he had a caravan at Camber Sands.
They then left and went to Khan'z Indian restaurant for a meal, which is also in Camber Sands
CCTV images captured O’Brien cool and relaxed at the eatery.
Then on Tuesday, October 12, just two days after the horrific killing, O’Brien and a friend drove to the Ashford Designer Outlet in Ashford, and CCTV footage showed thee movements of their car, a VW Golf.
O'Brien and his pal, 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.
The next day, Wednesday, October 13 staff at the pub O’Brien had visited saw a police Facebook appeal offering a reward to trace him and they called the police.
However, by the time police got to the area, O’Brien had already fled.
Further inquiries to trace the VW Golf showed it had travelled back towards London and at 1.15pm passed very close to Biggin Hill Airport.
At 3.02pm the same day, O’Brien left the country in a privately chartered twin-engine propeller plane.
Air traffic control records showed its destination was the south east Netherlands, near the German and Belgian borders.
Then on Thursday, October 22, officers searched the caravan O’Brien had been staying in at Camber Sands and found a khaki Canada Goose jacket he'd had on at the RE Bar.
Josh’s blood was found on the sleeve and O’Brien’s DNA was also on the jacket.
The manhunt:
A manhunt was launched with the help of the National Crime Agency, Europol and Interpol.
A European Arrest warrant was obtained and O’Brien was subsequently placed on Most Wanted lists across the world.
Rewards for information leading to his arrest and prosecution were raised over time to £50,000.
Detectives began to piece together his movements and after the private plane landed in the Netherlands, O’Brien was refused entry as he didn’t have a passport.
He took an onward journey to Germany where he walked across the airfield and vanished.
The breakthrough:
In March this year, detectives were contacted by O’Brien’s solicitor who said he was considering handing himself in and proposed a meeting in Budapest.
The Romanian authorities were alerted and O’Brien was detained on Saturday, March 23.
O’Brien was extradited to the UK, and arrived at Heathrow at 7.30pm on Friday, April 5.
He was immediately taken to Heathrow police station and charged and he appeared in court the next day.
DCI Noel McHugh, who led the murder investigation, said: "O’Brien was seen casually enjoying a curry with a friend, posing in front of a mirror, even getting the left-overs in a bag to go and then spending a couple of hours at Ashford Designer Outlet.
"You’d think a man in his position might quickly grab the first thing on the shelf and make off, but no, as CCTV shows, he carefully selected and tried on trousers and shirts, even asking a shop assistant for help with collar sizing at one point.
"Always paying in cash - he was careful about that."
"We were a sniff away from finding him at this point; maybe 12 hours behind him at Ashford.
"But of course by then he had fled the country.
"The fact he is a man who can arrange at the drop of a hat for a privately hired plane to whisk him away without a passport speaks volumes about his connections and criminal links.
“Early on it was clear O’Brien was a well-resourced and connected individual.
"With astonishing ease he was able to arrange a trip out of London, a flight out of the UK.
"He had the means and connections to disappear, people who would support him with funds and by supplying fake documentation.
“This was a case where we needed the public and media to flush him out.
"The plan was to get O’Brien’s face recognised across the world and make him a liability to those so keen to support him.
“Tracey and Brooke formed an army of helpers to distribute reward posters across the world.
"We got O’Brien onto Europol and Interpol’s most wanted lists, a first as previously dual circulation was not permitted.
“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.
“The work that went into trying to track him around the world was exceptional and I have nothing but thanks and praise for colleagues in the Met, the NCA and all those involved, including media here and abroad who carried so many of our appeals.
Josh's mum, Tracey spoke out after O'Brien was found guilty.
Mrs Hanson said: “On 11 October 2015 our lives changed forever when I received a phone call in the early hours of the morning to tell me that Josh had been stabbed in the neck.
"While Brooke and I were making our way to the RE Bar in Eastcote, we were told that Josh was dead.
"We were 10 minutes away so we never got the opportunity to say goodbye.
"I was denied my place as Josh’s mum as he lay on the cold floor alone, I could not hold him in my arms to comfort or reassure him, if only to give him hope that everything would be ok.
“The aftermath of Josh’s murder has left us broken beyond repair as Josh was taken from us in the most horrific way possible, suddenly, abruptly, viciously and violently, and nothing will ever erase the CCTV footage of Josh’s final moments from our minds as he was struck with a knife so horrifically and callously, along with his suffering as he tried to fight for his life.
"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.
“The last time I spoke to my son was on the phone at 10.30pm that evening and at the end of the phone call we said ‘I love you’ to one another the way we had always ended our conversations.
"Life for us will never be the same without Josh, it is very different from the one that was once familiar to us, and if you see a smile on my face know that there will always be sadness behind it.”
O'Brien will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday, October 17.
