Isleworth Man Convicted of Murder Outside Night Club
Ross Hamilton stabbed Reece Newcombe with piece of broken glass
Ross Hamilton after being taken into custody. Picture: Met Police
September 20, 2024
A 34-year-old man from Isleworth has been found guilty of murder by a unanimous jury at the Old Bailey this Friday (20 September).
Ross Hamilton of Wood Lane stabbed 31-year-old Reece Newcombe to death using a concealed piece of broken glass.
During the early hours of 26 November 2022, Hamilton was in an aggressive and agitated state outside Viva nightclub at an ‘after party’ following the World Cup match between England and the USA. He had already assaulted another man and had remained at the scene provocatively taunting security staff and others waiting for taxis outside the venue.
Ultimately, Reece intervened and he and Hamilton got into a fight. During this brief altercation between the two on Ormrod Road near Richmond Bridge, Hamilton stabbed Reece in the neck with the glass, before leaving the scene in a vehicle.
Onlookers rushed to Reece’s aid and an off-duty police officer, who was passing by, followed Hamilton and was able to describe the vehicle and direction of travel it left the scene in.
Officers quickly arrived and started administering emergency CPR until the arrival of paramedics and a London’s Air Ambulance helicopter. Reece was taken to hospital, but despite extensive efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead some hours later.
Murder detectives immediately launched an investigation, securing CCTV and interviewing numerous witnesses who had been in the vicinity of the incident. It was the World Cup and a nearby ‘Fanzone’ had been showing the match. Reece and Hamilton had attended the event before both headed to Viva nightclub although they had not interacted during the event.
Witness accounts and CCTV footage identified that Hamilton had spent much of his night being aggressive and unpredictable to random people at the event.
Hamilton attended Acton police station two days later and handed himself in knowing that he was the subject of an extensive police manhunt. He was charged with Reece’s murder during the early hours of 30 November 2022.
Reece, from Egham in Surrey, was a well-known boxing trainer and grandson of iconic boxer Harry Holland, who opened his own boxing camp in Hogarth Youth Club in Chiswick in the 1970s. John Holland, Reece’s father, is the owner of the West Side Gym in Hounslow, and its sister club in Isleworth on the Ivybridge estate. Following a stabbing on the Ivybridge in 2016 John played a major part in developing the boxing gym on the estate.
Family mourns 'beloved beautiful Reece'
Detective Inspector Kevin Martin, from Specialist Crime South, said, “Today is about Reece and his family. My thoughts remain with them following this truly senseless tragedy, but particularly so in light of this result. Nothing will bring Reece back to them, but they have at least seen his killer held to account for his cowardly attack. They have remained resolute despite the nearly two years since Reece was murdered.
“Reece was simply out having a good night with friends. He was a much loved son, brother, partner and friend to many. He had recently become a father and had so much to look forward to.
“Hamilton was a stranger to him, yet his senseless violence took Reece’s life. It is clear that Hamilton was ‘spoiling for a fight’ that night, attempting to square up to a number of people in the run up to the murder. Choosing to hide a broken piece of glass is an indication of the level of pre-meditation in his actions. Striking Reece in the neck meant he stood no chance of defending himself and Hamilton would have known that aiming directly for that area was likely to have catastrophic consequences.”
A spokesperson for Reece Newcombe’s family said: “Nearly two years have passed since we lost our beautiful Reece .
“Reece in life was the shining light at the centre of our loving family. That light was brutally snubbed out by the murderous moronic actions of Ross Hamilton, a callous bully on 26 November 2022.
“Many serious incidents involving Hamilton were recorded on CCTV as he bullied his way throughout the night.
“This resulted in him arming himself with a lethal weapon moments before deliberately striking our beloved Reece in the neck with a broken bottle .
“This culminated in the death of a 31-year-old loving father of two baby girls in the early hours of that fateful dreadful morning.
“Reece was only able to enjoy being a father to his baby daughter for five months. His second daughter whom he would never get to see was born the following summer of 2023 .
“The outpouring of grief after Reece’s passing was unprecedented, this showed the love people held for him. Four thousand people walked behind family members to lay wreaths at the spot where he was brutally murdered a week before.
“There is never a moment that goes by without us thinking of the beautiful soul that was our Reece.
“We, his family, are forced to navigate this cruel existence without him as we walk forward in life completely heartbroken.
“We are eternally grateful to the brave witnesses who came to court, to the police and the family liaison officers, also to the jury who weren’t intimidated or deceived by Hamilton as he lied his way through his testimony.
“As a family, still deeply in mourning, our wish going forward is that he now faces the full weight of the law in its entirety.
“The public, including the women he has previously attacked, will sleep better at night in the knowledge that he will no longer be at liberty to harm, maim or murder anybody else after his day of judgment .
“We will love you for eternity our beloved beautiful Reece.”
Hamilton has been remanded in custody to appear at the same court for sentencing on Friday, 11 October.
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