A man who killed a football fan with a horseshoe to the back of the head after the pair argued over loud music from a boombox speaker has been jailed for 21 years.
Kirkpatrick Virgo, 42, was jailed at Reading Crown Court on Friday for murdering golf green groundsman Thomas Parker after the pair got off an Elizabeth line train at Reading Station.
Parker, 24, had turned his back and was walking away from Virgo when he was struck once on the back of the head with the horseshoe.
Parker, described by his family as “lover not a fighter”, collapsed to the floor at Reading station.
He had been returning home with his brother, Craig, and two friends from a football match between Arsenal and Sevilla on July 30.
CCTV footage showed Virgo and two friends board the same train at Slough carrying a boombox, and accounts taken from witnesses on-board stated they were playing loud music.
As the journey continued, Thomas’ brother requested them to turn the music down. This led to a verbal disagreement between the two groups, during which passengers heard Virgo remark, “do you want to die tonight?”.
Virgo then followed the brothers when the train arrived at Reading.
The court heard that he followed the group, removing a heavy horseshoe from his rucksack, which he used to hit Thomas on the head.
He was then chased by Craig who tackled his brother’s killer, and the pair were separated by security.
The victim’s father Steven Parker described how “everything went black” as he saw his son lying on the platform at Reading station.
He said: “Tom had a lovely personality and always had a smile on his face.
“He was very clever and had lots of friends, Tom did not have a bad bone in his body. I would describe him as a lover not a fighter.
“I received a phone call from our son Craig. Every parent’s worst nightmare was about to unfold in front of us. Craig told us, ‘You need to get to Reading station, Tom has been attacked’.”
Mr Parker said he was unable to comfort his son or hug him because of the crime scene unveiling in front of him when he arrived at the station.
He said: “We approached in fear, hoping in our hearts we would be able to take Tom home with us, or at least take him to hospital where he could receive medical treatment. We could not be more wrong.
“We wanted to hug Tom, to take him home, to gently shake him and tell him to wake up. To tell him everything will be OK.”
He described his son as being like a brother, and added that Craig had “not only lost his brother but also his closest friend”.
The father told the court that Tom had recently been promoted to deputy greenkeeper at a golf green.
His family now find it too painful to use Reading station and Mr Parker said he is scared of what could happen every time a family member leaves the house.
The court heard that Virgo, 42, was a father of four and had five previous convictions for crimes such as drink-driving, and on another occasion he was found with crack cocaine and heroin.
He was found guilty by jurors after three hours and 49 minutes of deliberation on Wednesday.
