The 22-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering Tyson Fury’s 31-year-old cousin when he stabbed him in the neck during a fight outside the bar

A man has been found guilty of murdering Tyson Fury’s cousin in a bar fight.

Liam O’Pray fatally stabbed Rico Burton, the cousin of the world heavyweight boxing champion, outside a bar in Altrincham, Cheshire.

The 22-year-old struck at 31-year-old Mr Burton with a seven-inch blade after violence broke out between two groups of men in the early hours of August 22 last year.

Liam O’Pray pictured willfully murdering Rico Burton and wounding Harvey Reilly

Mr Burton (left), the cousin of boxer Tyson Fury (right), died after being stabbed in the neck outside a bar in Altrincham

Mr Burton died of massive blood loss after a knife nearly completely severed the large carotid artery in his neck, while a second man, Harvey Reilly, 18, was also stabbed in the same incident, Manchester Crown Court has learned.

O’Pray had previously been convicted of carrying a knife in public in 2019, but the defendant lied to the jury: “I’m not a violent person.”

Devastating CCTV footage in court showed an argument between the accused’s friends and Mr Burton’s family and friends at Goose Green, a courtyard full of bars.

O’Pray had previously been refused entry to a bar and it is alleged that he told a porter that he was a professional boxer and would come back and “cause him a problem”, which he denied.

Door staff and witnesses described the accused as a “loose team” and “very unpredictable”.

Just before 3am, a witness told the court that “absolute chaos” ensued when O’Prey’s friend Malachi Hewitt-Brown was beaten by Mr Burton’s cousin Chasiah Burton.

Mr. Burton then aimed a blow at Mr. Hewitt-Brown as well.

A second later, O’Pray dealt the court the fatal blow to the left side of Rico Burton’s neck with the knife.

A line of police and uniformed officers stand at a bar in Goose Green, Altrincham, in the early hours of August 22 last year

Marked police cars and vans on the streets of Altrincham after the incident of August 22nd last year

Michael Brady KC, prosecutor, asked the defendant, “You pulled the knife from your pocket and exposed the blade before the blow was struck?”

“Did you warn anyone? Did you say, “I have a knife, go away”? Did you swing it around?’

O’Pray said, “Everyone was in my face.” I didn’t say a word. I was surrounded by them. I just reacted.’

Mr Brady added: “It’s normal for you to go out drinking, be violent.”

The prosecutor suggested that O’Pray “almost always carried a knife.”

But O’Pray told jurors about a month before the fatal incident that he was covered in blood from head to toe, kicked and stabbed in the hand in a brawl after his £500 hat was taken from him.

The defendant said he bought the Lock knife because he was “concerned” after the July incident and because he wanted to “defend me” because the blows were swirling in his head.

He also said he used the knife as a tool in his work as a groundhand.

O’Pray, of Swinton, Salford, was found guilty of murder by a jury of seven women and five men after a three-week trial that lasted three and a half hours.

Mr Burton’s relatives, who were packed in the stands, shouted “yes” as the guilty verdict was announced.

O’Pray in the dock did not respond.

He was also found guilty of willfully injuring and stabbing Harvey Reilly, then 17 and now 18, during the same incident in the early hours of Sunday morning August 22 last year.

It was told at trial that the riots began after a dispute between the accused’s friends and Mr Burton’s family and friends at Goose Green, a bar yard in Altrincham, Cheshire.

Judge Alan Conrad KC said he would render the verdict on August 4, even though the defendant faces a life sentence for murder.

Nicola Carter, chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) North West, said: “This is another example of the fatal consequences of carrying knives.”

“Liam O’Pray had walked out that night armed with a knife, causing the death of a young man and seriously injuring another.

“The CPS worked with Greater Manchester Police to create a compelling case, compiling eyewitness evidence, CCTV footage, forensic evidence confirming the blood on both victims on the knife and medical evidence confirming the injuries to present to the jury.”

“Nothing can make up for the loss of Rico or the serious injuries to the teenager.” I can only hope that knowing that O’Pray has been brought to justice will bring some comfort to her family and friends. “My thoughts are with you.”