Rico Burton: Tyson Fury's cousin stabbed in neck in bar brawl

A man accused of murdering the cousin of world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury killed him with a single blow from a knife during a brawl outside a bar, a court has heard.

Liam O'Pray, is accused of using a lock-knife to stab Rico Burton, 31, in the neck in a fight outside a bar in Altrincham last August.

He is also accused of stabbing Harvey Reilly, 18, in the same incident.

The 22-year-old from Salford denies murder and attempted wounding.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the fight and fatal stabbing, which erupted and was over in seconds, Michael Brady KC, opening the case for the prosecution, told Manchester Crown Court.

The trial heard how the seven-inch blade of the knife almost completely severed the major carotid artery in Mr Burton's neck, causing massive blood loss.

Mr Brady told the jury that it happened during a fight between the defendant's friends and Mr Burton's family and friends at Goose Green, a courtyard of bars in Altrincham in the early hours of 22 August 2022.

Mr O'Pray had been in one of the bars earlier that evening, but was refused entry later, telling the doorman he would be back and "cause him an issue", the prosecution said.

A second bar next door also refused him entry with door staff and witnesses describing the defendant as a "loose cannon" and "very erratic".

The court was told Mr O'Pray was demanding entry to a bar and pushing people around because he said he had lost his phone and was looking for it.

He was then "dumped" outside a bar by a doorman but continued "belligerent and aggressive" behaviour, it is alleged.

At just after 03:00 BST, a witness said "absolute chaos" broke out as Mr O'Pray's friend, Malachi Hewitt-Brown, was punched by Mr Burton's cousin, Chasiah Burton.

Mr Burton also then aimed a punch at him.

A second later, Mr O'Pray struck the fatal blow with the knife to the left side of Mr Burton's neck, the court heard.

Harvey Reilly then went for the defendant, who Mr Brady said was "indiscriminatingly waving the knife" and was slashed twice by him, once to the arm and once to the abdomen.

Mr O'Pray was then punched and seemingly knocked out, a doorman going to put him in the recovery position and finding the lock knife.

Mr Brady said: "All this happened within five to six seconds of Chasiah Burton punching Mr Hewitt-Brown. It was an extremely fast-moving incident."

Members of the public went to help Mr Burton, who was struggling to breathe and holding his neck before he fell to the floor.

He went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead in hospital at 04:35.

A two-centimetre-wide cut was found to his neck, which was six centimetres deep, almost completely dividing his left carotid artery, causing the fatal massive haemorrhage, a post-mortem examination revealed.

Mr Reilly suffered a 14cm gaping wound to his chest wall, exposing his ribs, and large wound to his left arm.

Cannabis, cocaine and ketamine were found in the defendant's blood stream, tests later showed, and he had three wraps of cocaine in his possession when he was arrested shortly after the incident.

Mr O'Pray, of Little Moss Lane, Clifton, Salford, has admitted possession of a knife in a public place and possession of cocaine.

The trial continues.

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