Briton led to death in America by song

A British tourist who went to Amarillo in Texas because of the hit song by Tony Christie which bears its name has been shot dead in a bar.

Thomas Reeve, 28, the father of a 10-month-old girl, was shot when a gunman sprayed bullets during a hold-up at the city’s Spotted Pony Lounge.

Reeve, a shop manager from Maidenhead, Berkshire, who had been touring America, was rushed to hospital but later died. Another man, Gordon Gollihugh, 48, was shot in the hand.



Police said the masked gunman, after shooting Reeve and Gollihugh, forced a female customer partially to undress before sexually assaulting her. He then robbed others of their wallets and purses.

Ray Cisneros, a 25-year-old from the nearby city of Lubbock, was later arrested over the shooting.

Reeve’s mother, Margaret, 58, said yesterday: “He only went to Amarillo because of the song.”