Ex-rugby player tackled stranger to ground after he 'hit brother with horseshoe'
A former rugby player chased and tackled his brother's killer to the ground after the victim had been fatally struck with a horseshoe.
Craig Parker, 27, tackled Kirkpatrick Virgo, 42, before 11.45pm on July 30 2022, outside Reading Station, a court heard.
Mr Parker told the court on Tuesday that he had played rugby “at a high level”.
Moments before the tackle, Virgo had used a horseshoe to deal a fatal blow to Mr Parker’s brother, golf greenkeeper Thomas Parker, 24, the jury at Reading Crown Court heard.
Thomas and Mr Parker were on the Elizabeth line on their way home from watching an Arsenal game with two friends before the defendant and two of his friends boarded.
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Thomas died at Reading Station (Alamy Stock Photo)One of Virgo’s friends was playing music from a boom box speaker when Mr Parker said he asked for them to turn the music down.
An argument ensued and the groups were separated by two off-duty police officers, and the altercation passed without any violence, the court heard.
The Parkers and their friends then left the train at Reading station, and Craig Parker told the jury that he went to be sick behind a pillar, BerkshireLivereports.
He told the court he was ill from a McDonald's milkshake he had on the train and didn't believe that he vomited due to the alcohol he drank before and after the match.
He said: "Once I vomited I felt Tom looking over me, making sure I was alright.
"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 in the head.
Mr Parker told the court that he pursued Virgo through the station as he did not want to let him get away.
He said: "I was in a bear hug, grappling, just holding (him), I did not want to let him go."
The pair were then separated by security.
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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 best efforts of emergency services, Thomas was pronounced dead at 12.40am.
Virgo, from Slough, admits manslaughter and carrying an offensive weapon, but denies murder.
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