Shane O’Brien: ‘Most wanted’ fugitive charged over murder of Josh Hanson after extradition to UK

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One of Europe’s most wanted fugitives has been charged with murder after returning to the UK.

Shane O’Brien is accused of killing 21-year-old Josh Hanson, who was stabbed to death in a London bar in 2015.

The 31-year-old arrived Heathrow Airport at 7.30pm on Friday and is currently being held in custody at a London police station following his extradition from Romania. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrate’s Court on Saturday.

Mr O’Brien, originally from Ladbroke Grove in west London, was put on both Europol and Interpol’s most wanted lists last year and police had offered a £50,000 reward for information.

He is believed to have fled the country on a private jet in the wake of Mr Hanson’s death.

After landing in Germany, Mr O’Brien is thought to have spent time in the Netherlands, Dubai and at least seven months in Prague.

He was arrested by authorities in Romania last month, under a European Arrest warrant – one of the security tools that could be lost after Brexit.

Photos taken by police at the time showed that he had changed his appearance since fleeing, wearing his hair longer and growing a beard.

Investigators said Mr O’Brien could be marked out by a “distinctive and rather poor quality cover-up tattoo of an owl holding a skull”.

Mr Hanson's mother, who has long campaigned for help tracking down Mr O'Brien, thanked lead investigator detective chief inspector Noel McHugh in the wake of his arrest in Romania.

She wrote on Twitter: "Today on the 23rd of March 2019 and after 3 and a half years of waiting today is Josh's day."

Mr Hanson, 21, from Kingsbury in north-west London, was pronounced dead at the scene on 11 October 2015.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as haemorrhage, inhalation of blood and an incised wound to the neck.

Additional reporting by Press Association