The man who murdered a friend of former footballer and TV pundit Ian Wright has been jailed for life.
Ross Hamilton, 34, was “agreeing to fight” and armed himself with a broken bottle before stabbing it into the neck of 31-year-old boxing trainer Reece Newcombe, a court heard.
Holding his neck, Newcombe said: “I'm dead – he did me,” before collapsing.
Hamilton, of Isleworth, west London, “relished the opportunity to fight” and had previously threatened “jujitsu f***ing people” in the street, the Old Bailey heard.
On Friday, he was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum sentence of 19 years.
The court heard that Mr Newcombe's partner, Alicia Smith, who was in the early stages of pregnancy, was taken to hospital.
“Not only did she have to deal with her own grief, but she had to do so through pregnancy and the birth of her second daughter, who will never know her father,” said Judge Anthony Leonard KC.
“Karate kicks on the dance floor”
In court, prosecutor Louis Mably KC said that before the stabbing in the early hours of November 26, 2022, Hamilton appeared to provoke people at the Viva nightclub in Richmond, southwest London, “by doing karate kicks on the dance floor and hugging people and behaving aggressively towards them.”
Hamilton, described as a bald man, continued to act aggressively after the club closed and people left.
Mably said: “He started confronting people and telling them to go and fight him in the alley.
“He said in his own words, 'I'm going to f**king ju-jitsu you.' In short, the bald man felt like fighting.”
The court also heard that Mr Newcombe went to the same club where he got drunk and “had a good time”.
The pair had previously watched England play the USA in the World Cup being shown in the Richmond Park fan zone, although they did not come into contact with each other.
Newcombe was a friend of TV pundit Ian Wright. Photo: PA
“Tragic Decision”
Police said Hamilton's behavior led to him assaulting another man outside the club. He remained there for another 30 minutes, aggressively taunting security staff and others waiting for taxis outside the facility.
Shortly before 4am, Newcombe intervened and made the “tragic decision” to contact Hamilton, who, jurors heard, armed himself with a piece of broken glass.
Malby said the altercation at Richmond Bridge was fueled by “alcohol-fueled aggression” and Hamilton's decision to arm himself “changed everything.”
After the stabbing, Hamilton left the scene by car, but two days later he turned himself in to the police, the court was told.
The Metropolitan Police said he had tried “to get along with a number of people in the period leading up to the murder” and that “the decision to hide the shard of glass” was “an indication of the extent to which there was premeditation in his actions”. .
“Reece was just having a nice evening with his friends,” said Detective Inspector Kevin Martin, of the Met's specialist crime unit. “He had recently become a father and had something to look forward to.
“Hamilton was a stranger to him, and yet his senseless violence took Reece's life.”
Previous convictions
We also hear Hamilton had a violent streak, which first led to his conviction in 2014 for punching a taxi driver in the side of the head during an argument over a fare.
In 2018, he received a warning for punching a girl in the face, causing her to fall to the ground.
And two years later, he was convicted in Spain of hitting another partner in the arm with a bottle, kicking her in the stomach and knocking her to the ground.
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Hamilton, who is unemployed, has denied murdering Newcombe, claiming he acted in self-defense.
The court was told Hamilton had a “difficult and troubled childhood” and expressed remorse in a letter to the judge before sentencing.
Hamilton was also sentenced to four months in prison after being found guilty of assault by beating another man.
This sentence will run concurrently with the life sentence.
