Cops want soccer star's brother

2005-08-02 13:58

Liverpool - Police in northwest England said on Tuesday they are seeking the brother of a Premier League soccer star in connection with the axe slaying of a black teenager, whose death officers say was racially motivated.

Merseyside Police said Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton planned to make a TV appeal later on Tuesday urging his brother Michael to contact detectives about the weekend killing of 18-year-old Anthony Walker in the Liverpool suburb of Huyton.

Officers say they believe Michael Barton, 18, and another suspect identified as 20-year-old Paul Taylor may have travelled abroad. British media reports speculated that the pair had fled to Amsterdam.

Walker was waiting for a bus with his white girlfriend and a cousin near his home late on Friday when a man started shouting racist insults at them, police said. The three walked away but a group of three or four men followed them through a park, and Walker's companions saw someone bludgeon him with an axe, police said.

They ran to get help and returned a few minutes later to find Walker with the axe embedded in his skull, police said. He died in the hospital on Saturday.

Police on Monday arrested two men aged 26 and 29 on suspicion of murdering Walker. Two other men, aged 18 and 17, who were arrested in connection with the killing, have been released on police bail.

- AP