Anti-gay rampage kills one

2004-11-01 22:15

London - A gay man has been beaten to death in central London during an apparent spate of homophobic attacks which the city's mayor condemned on Monday as "vicious and cowardly".

David Morley, 37, died after being severely beaten by a teenage gang, two of whom were female, after he left a gay night club in the centre of the city during the weekend, police said.

He was among six people beaten with fists, feet and improvised weapons in four separate incidents early on Saturday morning on a short stretch of the South Bank, a popular pedestrianised area on the south side of the River Thames.

Morley was given a "savage beating" and died from multiple injuries, the city's Metropolitan police said, adding that a post-mortem showed he had 40 distinct bruises from blows.

'Violent and random attack'

The attackers were a pair of teenage boys accompanied by young women, police said, calling the gang's series of assaults "violent and random".

Police believe the group was targeting gay men who had left a popular gay nightclub called Heaven.

London mayor Ken Livingstone said: "This was a vicious and cowardly attack and our thoughts are with David Morley's family and friends.

"Homophobic attacks will not be tolerated in this city and those responsible for this crime must be brought to justice."

London has a thriving gay scene and is generally seen as one of the world's more-tolerant cities for homosexuals.

However, there have been occasional violent anti-gay incidents, such as a nail-bomb attack which killed three people and injured 73, five years ago on a gay pub in central London's Soho district.

London's Evening Standard newspaper said on Monday, Morley was working as a barman in the pub at the time of the bombing and escaped with minor injuries.

- AFP