Jailed for UK homophobic murder

Two British men were jailed for life yesterday for the homophobic murder of a gay barman in a ferocious attack that injured him so badly he could only be identified by his fingerprints.

Thomas Pickford and Scott Walker pleaded guilty at London's Old Bailey to murdering Jody Dobrowski last October as he walked home through a London park after an evening out with friends.

Mr Dobrowski, 24, described by his family as a "beautiful, bright young man", died in hospital hours after the two attackers punched and kicked him, inflicting more than 30 separate injuries on their victim.

"You could have had only one intention... that was to engage in homophobic thuggery," judge Brian Barker told the men.

Mr Barker said the evidence clearly pointed to a premeditated attack on a gay man.

"It was Jody's tragic misfortune to cross your path. You subjected him to mindless abuse and showed him no mercy."

Both men, who had previously denied murder, will have to serve at least 28 years each for the killing, the judge said.

During the assault on Clapham Common, an area known for gay pick-ups, the killers stuffed Mr Dobrowski's shoe into his mouth and shouted homophobic abuse as they beat him.

They later told witnesses they had attacked Mr Dobrowski because they did not like gay men and "that is why we can kill him if we want," the court was told. Mr Pickford told a friend later it had felt "great" to have kicked Mr Dobrowski.

Mr Dobrowski, an assistant manager at a bar in north London, died from head, neck and facial injuries which were so serious that his family did not recognise him.

Sheri Dobrowski paid tribute to her son's "strength in the face of cowardice" and said that "no intelligence or reasonable society" could accept homophobic violence.

"In a free and democratic society, Jody's murder was an outrage," the family said in a statement.

Mr Pickford, 25, unemployed, and Mr Walker, a 33-year-old decorator, both had previous convictions for violent crime.