Court hears crook got reward after tip-off led police to accused

MURDER trial jurors heard this week of the fateful night a graphic designer was stabbed to death during a bloody brawl seven years ago.
They were told how five friends set off for a birthday celebration which ended in horror when Ronald Hinkson was knifed outside the popular Barzaar nightspot in Camden Road, Camden Town.
The Old Bailey heard that emotions and feelings surrounding the murder ran so high that threats were made to kill the man believed to have been responsible for the attack.
Mr Hinkson’s violent death – he was stabbed twice, once in the neck and through the heart – entered its second week on Monday, bringing witnesses from across the world to give evidence to the jury of six men and six women.
But for long periods the public gallery has been virtually empty while the drama is played out in court number one, where Matthew Gerald O’Connor, 42, is in the dock.
Mr Hinkson, 32, who lived with his partner and their young son in Grafton Terrace, Kentish Town, was well known in the neighbourhood.
Mr O’Connor, of Harrington Street, Camden Town, worked at Barzaar, described as a “celebs” bar. He denies charges of wounding and murder.
A month after Mr Hinkson’s death Mr O’Connor, using a fake identity and a bogus passport, left the UK and later settled in Thailand, from where he was extradited in 2003. The jury heard that a crook he teamed up with collected a £21,000 reward after tipping off police about O’Connor’s whereabouts.
Prosecutor Jeremy Benson, QC, alleged that Mr O’Connor, enraged that a drinker had lit up a reefer in Barzaar, hit the smoker over the head and then thrust a glass into Mr Hinkson’s cheek.
The venue had a “zero tolerance” policy on drugs and Mr O’Connor allegedly said he was in charge of the establishment.
Just minutes after Mr Hinkson, with blood pouring from his face wound, left the premises he was lying outside Camden Road station having been knifed in Bonny Street.
Defence QC David Whitehouse claimed there were up to 20 men involved in the street fight and many were reluctant to assist police.
“Word was put out that the man responsible for killing Ronald was going to be killed. People wanted revenge,” he said.
On the night he died, Mr Hinkson had been celebrating a friend’s 30th birthday.
Violence erupted shortly after the group of friends arrived at Barzaar. The friends were bundled out by bar staff and bouncers, the court heard.
O’Connor is alleged to have been seen removing and replacing a knife in his back trouser pocket.
The trial continues.