Boxing coach murderer jailed for at least 19 years

Reece Newcombe

A clubber who stabbed a well-known boxing trainer to death with a broken bottle outside a nightclub has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 19 years.

Ross Hamilton, 34, killed 31-year-old Reece Newcombe who died after a fight in Richmond, south-west London, in the early hours of 26 November 2022.

Mr Newcome had a young daughter and after his death his partner discovered she was expecting a second child.

Alicia Smith said Hamilton's "selfless and cowardly act of violence" had taken the life of a "beautiful soul".

'I will never forgive'

In a victim impact statement, Ms Smith said Mr Newcombe was a "one-of-a-kind person - someone you search a lifetime for."

Mr Newcombe's father John Holland said his son was "honest" and "loved by everyone".

He described his son's murder as "an evil act perpetrated by an inhumane being who I will never, ever forgive until the day I die."

Ross Hamilton was called "murderous and moronic" by Reece Newcombe's family

The court was told Hamilton had been involved in in a number of altercations at a nightclub on the evening of 25 November.

Judge Anthony Leonard KC said Hamilton had spent the evening drinking and taking cocaine and that he had been "a nuisance".

He told Hamilton: "You goaded individuals into having a fight, and remained there with the intention of having a fight."

Ross Hamilton had been fighting outside a club on the evening of Mr Newcombe's murder

The court heard Hamilton had a record of violent offending when drunk, having previously punched a taxi driver and slapped and hit a girlfriend with a bottle.

In mitigation, defence barrister Bernard Richmond KC said "a series of circumstances" that evening had caused the defendant to behave in a way that was "terrible", but he was not somebody who had spent his entire life working towards such an outcome.

Hamilton was also given a four month sentence for an offence of battery, to be served concurrently.