Two plead
guilty for brutal murder of London gay man

Two men pleaded guilty on Friday to murdering a gay barman in a homophobic attack as he walked home through a park in London, the Reuters news agency reports. Thomas Pickford, a 25-year-old unemployed man, and 33-year-old decorator Scott Walker pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to murdering Jody Dobrowski in October 2005. Pickford and Walker, who had previously denied committing the murder, face life sentences when they are sentenced on June 16.

Dobrowski, a 24-year-old assistant manager at Jongleurs in Camden, north London, was punched and kicked to death as he walked home across Clapham Common on October 14 last year after an evening out with friends. He was discovered unconscious and later died in the hospital.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett said that the minimum term the two men should serve for the "appalling attack" should be 30 years behind bars. The court heard that during the assault, the killers stuffed Dobrowski's shoe into his mouth and passers-by reportedly heard them screaming gay insults as they beat him to death.

He died from head, neck, and facial injuries which were so serious that his family did not recognize him and he could only be identified from his fingerprints. Aylett told the court: "These two men were involved in a premeditated plan to attack a gay man." Aylett said an eyewitness had tried to help Dobrowski but that Pickford stopped beating his victim for as long as it took to prevent him from intervening. (Reuters)