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26th May 2018

British man added to world’s ‘most wanted’ list with £50,000 reward for information

James Dawson

He has been on the run for over two years

A British man who is believed to have murdered a man in an unprovoked knife attack in London has been added to the world’s most wanted list.

Shane O’Brien allegedly killed 21-year-old Josh Hanson in the RE Bar in Hillingdon, west London, on 11 October 2015.

Following the killing, the Metropolitan Police believe that O’Brien escaped the UK on a privately chartered plane from London Biggin Hill Airport and has been on the run ever since.

O’Brien was arrested in Prague in 2017, but was released on bail and has been ‘travelling extensively’ ever since. He is thought to have visited the Netherlands and Dubai before his arrest in the Czech Republic.

The killer has now been placed on the Interpol’s most wanted list, as well as being listed as one of the National Crime Agency’s most wanted. He is described as white, 6ft tall, with grey eyes and dark brown hair.

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh said: “Based on what we know about O’Brien’s lifestyle and interests, we are looking to people in nightclubs and boxing gyms as well as expats and any women he may have become involved with to come forward.

“Please do not assume that someone else will call in, what you perceive to be a small piece of information could in fact be the missing piece of the jigsaw that gets justice for Josh.”

Mr Hanson’s mother Tracey and his sister Brooke said in a statement on Friday: “Our lives will never be the same without Josh and I would not wish our living nightmare on anyone, it is a pain that no words alone can describe.

“Someone somewhere also knows where O’Brien is and can change the pain and uncertainty that each day brings for us.

“We ask you to try and imagine the emptiness that we have been left to live with, please, please, please do the right thing and make that call or encourage someone else to.”