A MAN who killed a 24-year-old at Reading Train Station with a metallic horseshoe said the weapon was a ‘good luck charm’.

Kirkpatrick Virgo, of Whitby Road, Slough, admitted the manslaughter of Thomas Parker who died on platform eight just before midnight on July 30 last year.

The 42-year-old also pleaded guilty to the possession of an offensive weapon during an appearance but denies murder.

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At Reading Crown Court today (March 27), Virgo took the stand to give evidence where he told the twelve-strong jury he ‘did not intend to kill anyone’.

The court previously heard Mr Parker had been travelling back from London with his brother Craig and two friends when Virgo and two others got on the train and started playing ‘loud rap music’ from a boombox.

An altercation took place and when the train pulled into Reading, the altercation continued leading to Virgo hitting Mr Parker on the back of the head with the horseshoe.

The defendant said he was bought the horseshoe from an antique shop as a ‘good luck charm’ about 18 months prior to the incident and had intended to hang it on a door in his home but ‘never got round to it’.

Tahir Khan, prosecuting, said: “Are you seriously telling this jury you never get round to putting in on the door?”

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Virgo responded: “Yes, I’m saying that.” He added that it was not his intention to use the horseshoe as a weapon.

When asked by Mr Khan why he had taken the horseshoe out of the bag, Virgo said he thought he was ‘going to be attacked’.

He said: “It was stupid of me to take it out but words that being said, ‘Wait until you get of the train,’ there was a possibility that I was going to be attacked.”

The jury were shown CCTV footage where Virgo could be seen going behind a pillar near an elevator followed by Mr Parker and his friend Adam May before the incident happened.

Defending Virgo, Alan Kent asked him: “What happened behind the pillar?”

Virgo said: “Thomas Parker called me a black c***. After he called me a black c*** I just reacted and hit him. It happened so quickly and he spat at me…it hit me on my chest area.

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“It was verbal abuse, swearing, from both of them. It happened so quickly, I was in shock. When I hit him I intended to cause him harm but not grievous bodily harm.”

The trial continues.