Two face life for gay barman murder in London

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) Two men face life imprisonment today when they are sentenced for the murder of a gay barman in a homophobic attack last year.

Thomas Pickford, 25, unemployed, and 33-year-old decorator Scott Walker pleaded guilty in May to murdering Jody Dobrowski as he walked home through a London park.

Pickford and Walker, who had previously denied murder, are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey.

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 after an evening out with friends.

He was discovered unconscious and later died in hospital.

During the men's trial, prosecutor Crispin Aylett said the minimum term they 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 recognise him and he could only be identified from fingerprints.

Aylett told the court: ''These two men were involved in a premeditated plan to attack a gay man.'' REUTERS DH RAI0517