ITN
Homophobic murder: pair jailed
Homophobic murder: pair jailed
Two men have been jailed for at least 28 years for the homophobic murder of gay barman Jody Dobrowski. Mr Dobrowski, 24, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, died on October 14 last year after he was punched and kicked in a brutal attack on London's Clapham Common which is used as a gay cruising area. The assistant bar manager at Bar Risa Jongleurs, in Camden, north London, was attacked shortly after midnight. His screams were heard by members of the public who called police. He died in hospital from severe head, neck and facial injuries. Unemployed Thomas Pickford, 25, and decorator Scott Walker, 33, of no fixed address both admitted to killing Mr Dobrowski at the Old Bailey earlier this month and were jailed for life today. They had been involved in an assault on another man in the area two weeks earlier. He suffered a swollen cheek and eyelid. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett said: 'Both were involved in a premeditated plan to attack a gay man. There was no premeditation to kill him, but the attack quickly increased in ferocity. We say there was a shared intention to kill.' The prosecution said a witness suggested that the stocky, tattooed Walker was more aggressive. Pickford had given an account of how Walker assaulted the victim, stuffing a sock and the man's shoe in his mouth. Police had recently stepped up patrols on the common after other homophobic attacks. Mr Dobrowski studied biology at Cardiff University, but decided to leave his degree course for bar work.
ITN | June 16, 2006
