The mum of a man stabbed to death in Eastcote three years ago says it "takes a little bit more from me" every time she does an appeal to try to find her son's suspected killer, who is wanted in an international manhunt
Shane O’Brien has eluded police since Josh Hanson was stabbed in the neck in RE Bar in Eastcote on October 11, 2015 and is now on Interpol’s most wanted list – with a £50,000 reward for vital information.
Police are pushing for renewed effort from the public to find Ladbroke Grove-raised O’Brien, who detectives believe is being supported by criminal associates with money and fake identities.
Tracey, Josh’s mum, has been wearing a sandwich board with details of her son’s murder at train stations in the hope of recruiting more lookouts for the cause.
“Three years without Josh have been unimaginable and I have not even started to grieve,” she said.
“I am asked ‘where do you get your strength from?’ Every time I do an appeal, it takes a bit more from me and it hurts so badly. How long will I continue? Well, there will be no end, my family and I are going to get louder and more creative until we get justice for Josh.
“It’s incredibly distressing that [October 11] is the anniversary of Josh’s murder and O’Brien is still at large.
“I find it astonishing how Europe’s and now Interpol’s most wanted man can be so elusive, or well-networked, as the police say.
“More than 40,000 posters have been requested worldwide and over the past two days alone we have handed out 8,000 posters, in addition I have taken the extraordinary step of wearing a sandwich board outside major London transport hubs.
“I have the face of the man the police want to speak to in relation to my son’s murder close to my heart…that cannot be right! Moreover, I have to do this because he has not been caught.”
She added a direct appeal to Facebook users: “For Josh, please do one thing right now, not in 10 minutes, because something else will have come across your screen, right now attach the PDF poster to your Facebook and other social media and share it far and wide.
“You could be the person who opens up an opportunity for the investigation, so please share widely throughout the world.
“If you’re contemplating whether to call the police, look at what I have been reduced to – you could change things so dramatically for my family. As a mum, please make that call.”
What happened?
Josh, from Kingsbury in Brent, died after an unprovoked incident at the RE Bar on Field End Road in Eastcote in October 2015, with O'Brien fleeing the country on a private plane immediately afterwards.
Detectives believe he is being helped by criminal associates who are providing him with money, false identifies and the means to move across borders.
Police and the London Ambulance Service attended the RE bar at around 1.10am and Josh was found suffering a serious wound to the neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination gave cause of death as haemorrhage, inhalation of blood and an incised wound to the neck.
What do police say?
Over the past three years, the investigation team at the Homicide and Major Crime Command, led by Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, have been trying to trace O’Brien and follow up every lead with the National Crime Agency.
DCI McHugh, said: “For Josh’s family, the last three years – more than 1,000 days and nights without Josh – have been horrendous.
No words adequately describe the pain they are going through. His mum Tracey and sister Brooke have to live on a daily basis with the frustration and ongoing disappointment that as yet O’Brien evades capture.
“The determination of Josh’s family to do all they can to help raise awareness is inspiring and I am so proud of Tracey for putting herself among commuters so people can see first-hand what she is going through.
“It is so cruel that the silence of a few people is torturing her daily. Josh is the last thing on her mind when she goes to bed and the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up.
“It is wicked that she is being put through this pain. One call could allow Tracey and Brooke to start grieving.
“Since O’Brien’s escape, we have been working tirelessly to track him across the world with the help of the NCA.
“As well as our proactive appeals – and alongside Josh’s family we have distributed 40,000 of our appeal posters globally – a huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes.
“Three years may have passed but our resolve to track down O’Brien is undiminished.
“We know that O’Brien is being supported but that does not mean he cannot be found.
“Sharing our ‘wanted’ poster as wide and far as possible, I believe we are making it more and more difficult for those helping O'Brien to remain hidden and there will come a point where they will see him as a liability and they will make that anonymous call.”
Most wanted
O'Brien was placed on Interpol's Most Wanted list in May 2018.
A number of sightings were reported to police and the National Crime Agency, which is working abroad to track down O'Brien.
Those sightings were investigated but all lines of enquiry have now drawn to a close and officers continue to need the public’s help.
Efforts have been focused on France, Spain, the Netherlands and Dubai but with means at his disposal, he could be anywhere.
Where is he?
O'Brien was flown out of the UK in a privately chartered plane from Biggin Hill Airport, landing in Germany.
In March 2016 he was added to the Most Wanted list by the National Crime Agency and Crimestoppers and his image circulated worldwide.
At that time it was believed he could be hiding in the Netherlands. Information later indicated he had travelled to Dubai.
Josh Hanson's murder
He was elevated to Europe's Most Wanted and placed on Europol's list and later added to Interpol's Most Wanted list
In February 2017, he was arrested in Prague. He used the Italian alias of Enzo Mellonceli, supported by false documentation, and was bailed pending further enquiries.
An image taken then shows O’Brien had changed his appearance – he had grown his hair and had a full beard and a distinctive new tattoo of an owl holding a skull, covering up his previous "Shannon 15-04-06" tattoo.
Officers believe he was in Prague for at least seven months and carried out extensive appeals there to try to build up a picture of his lifestyle.
They know he has an interest in boxing, gyms and nightclubs and may have been involved with a number of women – officers are asking anyone who can help to come forward in confidence and in particular keep looking for O’Brien’s eye-catching tattoo.
O'Brien, originally from Ladbroke Grove, also has grey eyes and dark brown hair and is 6ft tall.
Anyone with information about O'Brien or his whereabouts can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org , the police incident room on 020 8785 8099 or the National Crime Agency's public line on 0370 496 7622, which is staffed 24 hours a day.
Video from October 2017
