London police have detained two men for questioning in connection with the brutal killing of Jody Dobrowski last weekend on Clapham Common. The two men are age 33 and 25. Earlier this week, three teenage boys had been held for questioning but they were released without charges.
The brutality of the killing has sent shock waves through London’s gay community. On Friday it was revealed that Dobrowski had been beaten so badly not even his family could recognize him, and the body had to be identified through fingerprints.
Dobrowski’s family released a statement intimating that they knew he was gay, but he had not yet come out to them:
“Jody knew he was loved and accepted. He knew that we knew. He was also a young man still discovering his identity and was facing the difficulty of having to ‘come out’ which straight people never have to face. The timing of this was up to him. He had very little time. He did not know that.
It is difficult for same-gender partnerships to be openly displayed in Gloucestershire…We would not disagree that homophobia exists here as it does everywhere. We have yet to read a report in our local press, however, of such a horrific attack on someone thought to be gay in Gloucestershire. That happened in London.”