Man guilty of knife murder of boxing trainer

A man has been found guilty of murdering a prominent boxing trainer after he stabbed him in the neck after the trainer threatened people on an evening out about practicing ju-jitsu.

The Old Bailey heard that Ross Hamilton was “up for a fight” and armed himself with a broken bottle before stabbing 31-year-old Reece Newcombe in the throat in Richmond, south-west London.

Mr Newcombe had a young daughter and another was on the way, said: “I'm dead – he finished me off,” before collapsing in the early hours of November 26, 2022.

Jurors heard that Hamilton had been convicted three times previously of assaulting female friends and a taxi driver. Sentencing was adjourned until October 11.

Prosecutor Louis Mably KC told the jury that 34-year-old Hamilton was “very drunk” and behaved “aggressively and erratically”.

He was seen approaching an 80-year-old man, attempting to intimidate him and throwing beer at a passing car.

Hamilton went to the Viva nightclub, where he was involved in several minor altercations, the court learned.

“He seemed to be provoking people,” Mr. Mably said, “by doing karate kicks on the dance floor, putting his arm around people and acting aggressively toward them.”

“The fight he was looking for”

Mr Newcombe, a friend and coach of former footballer and television pundit Ian Wright, had watched an England World Cup football match in a fan zone in Richmond and then went to the same nightclub.

At some point he took drugs, the court said, but he was having fun and nothing happened to him until the fight broke out, which took place after an argument in a side street near the club.

“The sad truth is that there would have been no fight – it was an event fuelled by intoxicating aggression. It wasn't that the defendant was defending himself, it was that two people were willing to fight.

“The defendant armed himself with a weapon and got the fight he was looking for.”

A statement from Mr Newcombe's family said: “Reece was the shining centre of our loving family's life.

“That light was brutally extinguished by the murderous, moronic actions of Ross Hamilton, a callous tyrant.

“Reece was only able to enjoy being a father to his little girl for five months. His second daughter, whom he would never see, was born the following summer in 2023.

“We, his family, are forced to live this cruel life without him as we go through life with our hearts completely broken.”

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