Man guilty of murdering train passenger with horseshoe after row about loud music

A man who used a horseshoe to kill a golf greenkeeper has been found guilty of murder.

Kirkpatrick Virgo bludgeoned Thomas Parker, 24, with the item after the pair argued over loud music played from a boombox speaker.

Both men had been on the same train when the disagreement arose.

Virgo, 42, then pursued Mr Parker out of Reading station to deliver the fatal blow with the horseshoe.

Virgo admitted manslaughter and carrying an offensive weapon, but denied murder.

Reading Crown Court heard the row began when Mr Parker’s brother, Craig Parker, told one of Virgo’s friends to turn the music down on the train last July.

This caused an argument between the two groups, who shouted at each other before the altercation was ended by off-duty police officers.

During his evidence, Craig Parker explained how he went to be sick behind a pillar as soon as the train arrived at Reading Station.

‘Once I vomited I felt Tom looking over me, making sure I was all right,’ he said.

Thomas Parker, 24, died of a rare brain haemorrhage after he was struck with a horseshoe (Picture: PA)

‘Then it happened, so quickly, Tom was on the floor in front of me.’

The court heard that Virgo had followed the group, removing a heavy metallic horseshoe from his rucksack, which he then used to hit Thomas Parker in the head.

Craig Parker told the court that he followed Virgo through the station as he did not want to let him get away.

‘I was in a bear hug, grappling, just holding (him), I did not want to let him go,’ he said.

Virgo hit Mr Parker with a horseshoe he had stashed in his backpack (Picture: PA)

After Virgo was detained, Mr Parker heard someone tell him that he needed to go back to his brother.

‘I heard someone say “you best come down now”,’ he said.

Mr Parker found his brother surrounded by paramedics.

Despite the efforts of emergency services, Thomas Parker was pronounced dead at 12.40am.

A jury found Virgo guilty of murder after nearly four hours of deliberations (Picture: PA)

The court was told that Mr Parker died as a result of a subarachnoid haemorrhage after he was hit, meaning fragile blood vessels near his brain had burst and he had gone into cardiac arrest.

Consultant forensic pathologist Robert Chapman, who performed the post-mortem examination, told the court: ‘One to 2% of cases I deal with have this sort of injury.

‘I would expect to see this type of injury about once a year or slightly less than that.’

Virgo will be sentenced on Friday.

The jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for three hours and 49 minutes.

Kirkpatrick Virgo bludgeoned Thomas Parker, 24, with the item after the pair argued over loud music played from a boombox speaker.