Man who hit greenkeeper with horseshoe at Reading station found guilty of murder

A man who killed a golf greenkeeper by hitting him on the head with a horseshoe has been found guilty of murder.

Kirkpatrick Virgo, 42, hit Thomas Parker, 24, with the talisman after the pair argued over music being played on a portable speaker on a train.

Thomas Parker died on platform 8 at Reading train station late on 30th July 2022.

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

The court heard the row began when Mr Parker's brother Craig Parker, 27, told one of Virgo's friends to turn the music down on the train at about 11pm last July 30.

The two groups shouted at each other before the altercation was ended by off-duty police officers.

Virgo then followed the Parker brothers when the train arrived at Reading station.

During his evidence, Craig Parker told how he went to be sick behind a pillar as soon as the train arrived at Reading Station. He said he felt ill from a McDonald's milkshake he had consumed on the train.

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

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

• CCTV footage shows the moment Kirkpatrick Virgo is led away by police following the attack.

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 pursued 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.

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

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

DCI Paul Langley, senior investigating officer in the case, said: “This was a senseless act of violence that stemmed from a minor argument relating to Virgo and his friends playing loud music on a train.

“Tom Parker was travelling home from an Arsenal FC fixture in London with his brother and friends. He was a young man with his whole life ahead of him. But that life was taken away by an extremely violent individual who fatally struck him following a disagreement at Reading station.

“Thanks to a single shocking act of violence by Kirkpatrick Virgo, Tom’s family now face the rest of their lives without their brother, son and friend.

“We’re pleased that justice has been served today. My thoughts, and the thoughts of my team, remain with Tom’s family. While no verdict will ever be justice enough for them, I hope they can take some small comfort in the fact that this violent individual will spend a lengthy period of his life behind bars.”

Virgo will be sentenced on Friday.

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