A man has been found guilty of murdering Tyson Fury’s cousin in a shocking attack outside a bar.
Liam O’Pray, 22, denied stabbing Rico Burton, 31, to death but was found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court today.
Mr Burton was a relative of the popular world heavyweight boxing champion.
O’Pray, from Swinton, Salford, plunged a lock-knife with a seven-inch blade into the victim’s neck after a brawl broke out in Altrincham, Cheshire, last year.
The single fatal stab wound severed Mr Burton’s major carotid artery, causing major blood loss, the court heard.
After three-and-a-half hours of deliberation following a three-week trial, O’Pray was found guilty of murder by the jury of seven women and five men.
Relatives of Mr Burton who packed the public gallery shouted ‘yes’ as the guilty verdict was delivered, while O’Pray in the dock made no reaction.
He was also found guilty of wounding with intent by slashing and stabbing Harvey Reilly, who was 17 at the time and is now 18, during the same incident in the early hours of August 22 last year.
The trial was told trouble began after a fight between the defendant’s friends and Mr Burton’s family and friends at Goose Green, which is a courtyard of bars.
Judge Alan Conrad KC said he will pass sentence on August 4, though the defendant faces a mandatory life sentence for murder.
Heavyweight boxer Fury previously called on longer sentences for knife crime to be introduced following the death of one of his family members.
He wrote on Instagram at the time: ‘My cousin was murdered last night, stabbed in the neck.
‘This is becoming ridiculous… idiots carry knives. This needs to stop.’
Fury also said: ‘ASAP, UK government needs to bring higher sentencing for knife crime.
‘It’s a pandemic and you don’t know how bad it is until one of your own. Life is very precious and it can be taken away very quick. Enjoy every moment.’
A jury had heard how O’Pray carried out the horrific attack at around 3am outside King Pong bar.
After leaving one bar earlier in the evening, the court heard O’Pray tried to regain entry between 9pm and 10pm but was denied and upon being turned away, he threatened he would return and ’cause an issue’.
He returned to the Goose Green area shortly before 3am and attempted to enter the King Pong bar on his own – Mr Burton and his family friends were in the vicinity at the time.
However, no one was being allowed entry to the bar due to a ‘previous, unrelated incident’.
After being turned away by the bar’s manager, O’Pray became aggressive and threatened to ‘blow the place up’.
He tried to force his way into the bar several times, claiming he had lost his phone, but was repeatedly ejected by bouncers.
One witness described O’Pray as a ‘loose cannon’ and said she saw him ‘pushing girls about in his efforts to find his phone’.
Shortly afterwards, O’Pray and another man became embroiled in an argument with a group of people outside the bar.
O’Pray and the man were moved away but they both kept ‘going on about the phone’.
In an attempt to appease them, a bouncer promised to look for it but when they tried to follow her into the bar, she told them they would have to come back the next day.
That caused O’Pray to ‘go mad’ and he again tried to get into the bar before being restrained. In the meantime, a brawl broke out.
During the melee, which one witness described as ‘absolute chaos’, jurors heard that Mr Burton’s cousin, Chasiah, had twice punched O’Pray’s friend in the head.
As Mr Burton threw a punch at him, O’Pray plunged the knife into the side of his neck. After being punched to the head by another man, he began ‘indiscriminately waving the knife backwards and forwards’, slashing Mr Reilly to his arm and chest.
O’Pray was then punched again and knocked out. A member of staff at a nearby bar went to assist O’Pray and found the bloodied knife under his right hand.
Witnesses tried to stem Mr Burton’s bleeding before he collapsed to the floor.
Police and paramedics were called to the scene and Mr Burton was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4.35am.
A post-mortem examination gave his cause of death as ‘a stab wound to the neck’.
Mr Reilly, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was also taken to hospital, having lost a large amount of blood.
After recovering from his injuries, jurors heard that Mr Reilly told police he had confronted O’Pray after he witnessed him ‘wrestling’ with a bouncer.
O’Pray was arrested at the scene and was found in possession of three wraps of cocaine. He was said to be ‘clearly intoxicated’ and told police he had been ‘rushed by about 30 people’ and that ‘people had tried to kill him’.
Tests revealed he had cannabis, cocaine and ketamine in his system. The knife was later passed to police and traces of both Mr Burton and Mr Reilly’s blood were found on the weapon.
Giving evidence, O’Pray said he just wanted to get to his phone so he could get a taxi home.
He claimed staff were ignoring him and not letting him back into the bar to get his phone.
He then said he was grabbed from behind before he started ‘swinging’ his arms around.
He said he didn’t know if the knife he brought with him made contact with anyone. He later told jurors he’s ‘not a violent person’.
However, following just over two hours of deliberations, jurors found him guilty of murder and wounding with intent.
Mr Burton’s family wept and shouted ‘yes’ in the packed out public gallery as the jury returned their verdicts.
O’Pray, who has a previous conviction for possession of a knife in a public place in 2019, had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of a knife and possession of cocaine.
