Uk Police Hunts Gay Man's Killer

LONDON, UK -- The London Metropolitan Police are chasing the killer, or killers, of a gay bar manager who was beaten to death in what the police believes was a hate crime.

Jody Dobrowski, 24, from south-east London, was kicked and punched to death on the edge of a well-known gay cruising area on Clapham Common. Scotland Yard said yesterday the violence was so extreme that his killers had no use for a weapon. Fists and feet, rather than a club or knife, were enough to inflict the injuries to the head, neck and chest from which Mr Dobrowski died in hospital at 10.30am on Saturday.

Police said that shouts heard by witnesses led them to believe it was a homophobic attack.

Jody Dobrowski was the 141st victim of a homophobic assault in the borough of Lambeth, which adjoins Clapham Common, in a year.

Bob Hodgson, from the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender Advisory Group, appealed to members of the gay community who had also been attacked in recent months to come forward as they may have vital information.

"Members of the gay community are often targeted as very often they do not report such attacks to the police," Hodgson said.