A personal trainer who fatally stabbed Ian Wright's boxing coach in the neck with a broken bottle was today jailed for at least 19 years.
Reece Newcombe, 31, choked out: 'He finished me off' after being attacked by Ross Hamilton, 34, outside Viva nightclub in Richmond.
The two men were watching England's game against the USA in the Qatar World Cup in a fan zone at Richmond Park on November 26, 2022, before heading to a club.
Hamilton was seen acting aggressively and had already elbowed a man in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.
Reece Newcombe, 31, pictured gasping: 'He finished me' after being attacked by Ross Hamilton, 34, outside Viva nightclub in Richmond
Ross Hamilton, 34, in the photo, was seen acting aggressively and had already elbowed a man in the face, causing him to fall to the ground
Ross Hamilton, 34, turned the glass into a makeshift knife to deliver the fatal blow after a fight broke out between the two men
He was seen doing 'karate kicks' on the dance floor and shouted to the clubber that he would do 'fucking ju jitsu' on them and 'wrap people up like a pretzel'.
Hamilton drank heavily and used cocaine and ecstasy before killing the victim.
Newcombe helped train former England star Wright, 59, and other celebrities for a charity boxing match in 2014.
He also trained actor Jack O'Connell, who starred in the drama 'SAS: Rogue Heroes'.
Hamilton denied murder and assault by beating but was convicted today by an Old Bailey jury after 15 hours and 21 minutes of deliberation.
The killer has two previous convictions and a warning for crimes of street violence.
Newcombe had a five-month-old daughter and his partner was pregnant with their second daughter when he was murdered.
His former partner, Alicia Smith, said in an impact statement that when she met Mr Newcombe it was “love at first sight”.
“Reece was a unique person, someone you would seek your whole life to meet,” she said.
“To this day it is difficult to explain the pain I felt.
'Reece was my best friend, my soulmate, my partner, my girls' father.
'He was a lovely, generous, honest and beautiful person and was someone everyone cared about.
'As a family, we are broken. The loss of Reece is inexplicable – a pain so raw it's hard to accept.'
Addressing Hamilton, she said: 'You stole two little girls' chance to meet their father.'
Smith said Hamilton was guilty of a “selfish and cowardly act of violence for which you feel no remorse.”
Hamilton (right) was shouting that he would do 'fucking ju jitsu' in a club and 'wrap people up like a pretzel' before murdering Reece
Ross Hamilton (pictured) arguing outside Viva nightclub in Richmond, before the murder of Reece Newcombe
Newcombe, left, helped train former England star Wright, right, and other celebrities for a charity boxing match in 2014
Newcombe's father, John Holland, who owns two boxing gyms, said in his impact statement that when his son was murdered “his whole world collapsed”.
He said the screams of Mr Newcombe's mother when she received news of the stabbing 'will haunt me until the day I die'.
“I thought my heart would stop and I actually wished it would. I didn’t want to live with the pain of losing my son,” Holland said.
'It really is the worst thing that can happen to a human being. I cry myself to sleep every night. I don't think that will change.
'I will never forgive the defendant until the day I die.'
Judge Anthony Leonard, KC sentenced Hamilton to life in prison with a minimum term of 19 years.
The judge said Hamilton ignored advice from bouncers and a friend to go home when he confronted people outside the club.
“You went a little way down the road and waited there for almost an hour,” the judge said.
— In my opinion, you enjoyed the opportunity to fight.
The judge added: “You armed yourself with that dangerous weapon before instigating a fight and then used it on Reece Newcombe.
“You were out for a fight and the jury rightfully rejected your defense of self-defense.”
Prosecutor Louis Mably, KC, previously said: “Hamilton caused problems throughout the night in a number of different ways in a number of locations, including inside the nightclub.
'He had gone from the fan zone to the club and as he left the fan zone he was increasingly aggressive, approaching the public and women, standing in front of trucks and throwing beer at a passing car.
“Throughout the evening he was involved in a series of low-level altercations with other people inside, egging people on and behaving erratically, throwing karate kicks on the dance floor, harassing people – sometimes putting his arm around people, sometimes being aggressive.
“So, at the end of the night, when the club closed and everyone went out into the street, instead of going home he stayed outside, behaving aggressively and erratically.
'At 3:20am, he approached another man much smaller than him, struck up a conversation with him and, without any warning, elbowed him in the face with all his strength, causing the man to fall to the ground.
'After elbowing the man down, he began dancing in the street, confronting security staff and shouting at people, 'I'm going to do ju jitsu with you.'
'He was looking for people to fight.
“He continued to stand outside the club and incite people to fight with him.
'Just before 4am he was still there, itching for a fight when Reece approached him.
'And it appears that the defendant was provoking Reece and his friend and in the end Reece decided he was going to confront him. And that was a tragic decision on his part.
“What happened was exactly what Newcombe expected to happen: he got the fight he asked for.
'Except what he did before the fight started, just minutes before he found someone to fight, he armed himself with a piece of broken glass and put it in his pocket ready for when the time came.'
A witness saw him breaking a bottle to make the makeshift dagger.
The prosecutor added: “When the time came he took the glass out of his pocket and in the struggle with Reece stabbed him in the neck, causing a fatal injury.
'He immediately began to appear seriously injured, grabbed his neck and grabbed and friends ran and it became a general scuffle in the side street.'
Hamilton was thrown to the ground, but left the scene.
Two police officers attended and found a large crowd outside Nando's, near Richmond Bridge.
Mably said: 'At the bottom of the stairs they saw that a man was lying on the floor and covered in blood and members of the public were around him, kneeling, trying to provide first aid.
'It was clear he had a serious injury to the right side of his neck.'
Mr Newcombe underwent emergency surgery but was pronounced dead at 10.15am the following morning.
A few days later, Hamilton turned himself in at a police station and claimed that he acted in self-defense.
Giving evidence in court, Hamilton said: 'I'm ashamed of myself, I was acting like an idiot.
'I'm sorry and I feel remorseful, but at the same time I have ADHD and when I'm drinking I'm very excessive.
“I can’t stop moving and moving my hands.
'I was really excited, I took some drugs that day, I drank a lot, I was jumping around like a Duracell bunny, with a lot of energy.
“I was actually in a good mood, in a good mood, I was having a good night.”
He alleged that Mr Newcombe approached him and said: “Fight me, fight me, you think you are a tough man, you hit my mate, fight me.”
'I knew Reece was a boxer, I didn't want to fight him,' said Hamilton.
He said another person grabbed him by the back of his shirt and he tried to put the beer bottle against the wall, but it fell and broke.
He said ten to twenty people showed up on the corner.
“At this point I knew an attack was imminent,” he said.
'I just picked up a bottle off the floor and started swinging it. I don't know if it was broken at the time, I don't think so.
Hamilton sobbed: 'I never intended for anyone to lose their life.
'I was just trying to fight back.
Jurors heard how Hamilton assaulted his girlfriend in 2020, hitting her on the shoulder with a bottle and then kicking her in the stomach.
He was also convicted of assaulting a taxi driver in 2014 after punching him twice in the head following an argument over the fare.
Defense lawyer Bernard Richmond, KC, said: 'Murder is, by its very nature, an evil thing. But this is not a bad person.'
Hamilton, of Wood Lane, Isleworth, west London, denied it but was convicted of murder and assault.
