A SLOUGH man has been found guilty of murder after hitting a 24-year-old on the back of the head with a metallic horseshoe at Reading Train Station.

Kirkpatrick Virgo, of Whitby Road, Slough, has been found guilty at Reading Crown Court of murdering Thomas Parker, 24, who died on platform eight just before midnight on July 30 last year.

The 42-year-old defendant was found guilty after an almost two week trial. The jury delivered their verdict after almost three hours and 49 minutes of deliberation.

Sitting in the dock in a white shirt, Virgo looked stoic when the verdict was delivered and showed no reaction to the verdict given this afternoon (March 29).

Throughout the trial, the jury heard that Mr Parker had been travelling back from watching an Arsenal football game with his brother, Craig, and their two friends when the incident happened.

They were on the train when the defendant and two friends got on the train at Slough with one of Virgo’s friends carrying a boombox playing music.

A verbal altercation took place between Mr Parker’s brother and the defendant’s group of friends which was then stopped by an off-duty officer.

However, the altercation continued when the train pulled into Reading.

Prosecuting, Tahir Khan said: “When the train pulled into Reading, the defendant pulled out a heavy metallic horseshow from his rucksack.

“We say the defendant was upset about the previous argument and was intent on doing some serious damage.

“The defendant followed after Thomas Parker and brought the heavy metallic weapon down on Thomas Parker’s head.

“Thomas Parker fell onto the floor and sadly never got up. He was wounded by a single blow the defendant delivered and the defendant then ran away.”

Emergency services tended to Mr Parker who was sadly pronounced dead at 12.40am on July 31, 2022.

A pathology report noted that he had bruising on the left side of the back of his head from a ‘blunt impact’.

It added that the injury caused bleeding into the space around the brain and ‘death followed soon after’.

Virgo, who had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of an offensive weapon, will be sentenced on Friday morning.

Judge Nawaz said: "This the most serious offence anyone can be sentenced for."