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24-year-old man found dead after a night out in Manchester's Gay Village

Police seek your help

Monday, 1 October 2007

The family of a 24-year-old student, who died alone in pain on the doorstep of his flat after a night out in Manchester’s gay village, is appealing for the public's help to trace his killer.

David Brown of Chorlton Road in Hulme, Manchester and originally from Burnley, was found on the doorstep of his flat after a night out with a date in Manchester town centre on Thursday 20 September 2007. He and his male friend had been to a number of bars during the course of the evening, ending up in Cruz 101 on Canal Street.

Once inside the club, David and his date went their separate ways and the last time he was seen was when he was leaving the club just after 2:30am on Friday 21 September 2007.

His body was found outside the door to his flat at 7:30am later that day. He had been stabbed several times in the leg and a post mortem examination revealed that it was a stab wound to his left thigh, which actually killed him. Officers suspect that David may have been attacked at another location and managed to get as far as his front door, but died on his own doorstep.

David’s grieving mother Sylvia Stansfield described how her son's dream of a new life in Spain has been shattered by this tragedy. Clutching her daughters hand in an emotional press conference she said: “David was a fun-loving son, who enjoyed life to the full. Although he was a very quiet person he had lots of friends.

"He was just looking forward to starting his course. He wanted to go and live in Spain." As she wept she said: "He died on his own and that's more than anybody should have to bear."

"I will never come to terms with it. How afraid he will have been going through all of this. I don't know how I'm going to learn to live with that."

David's sister Michelle, 29, stated: "One of the hardest things is not knowing how he has been killed, how long it took him to get home and how long it took him to die."

Police are currently trawling through CCTV to try to build a picture of David's movements in the hours before his death and house-to-house inquiries are ongoing. One possible line of enquiry is that David may have been robbed as his wallet was missing from his body when found.

Detective Superintendent Keith Dillon from Greater Manchester Police's Major Incident Team said: "There are four or five hours, from David leaving Cruz 101 until his body was found, which we have very little information about at the moment and we need members of the public who were in town on that night to think back to whether they saw David or anybody acting suspiciously.

"Did anyone see him walking towards home or being followed, or did he get picked up in a taxi or get onto a bus? Did anybody meet up with David after he left Cruz?”

Dominic Cuomo, 29, had been a close friend of David’s for three years. He said that he was devasted by the death of his “six foot gentle giant” friend and wanted to encourage other people having night out in the gay village to be safer when getting home. He said: “It is unlikely David’s killer will be caught but if we could highlight what has happened and make people think twice about walking home, especially if it's only a fiver in it taxi then lives could be saved."

Dominic said has created a page on Facebook in remembrance of David and will also be putting up posters in Hulme to tell the gay community to stay safe when walking home.

Detective Chief Inspector Pete Jackson, from Greater Manchester Police's Major Incident Team said that since the murder the police have been on Canal Street and in the gay village speaking to people and handing out leaflets appealing for information.

He commented: "We need people to help us catch David's killer and any information or sightings of David that night might just provide us with that vital lead."

"We are really interested to hear from anyone who has been approached or been subject to a robbery and not told us about it. If anyone has then we would have to stress the urgency to get in touch with us because the sooner we find them the better chance we will have."

“If we assume it was a robbery, then this person won’t have gone out that night and committed his first ever robbery. He will have committed others and they are the victims that we need to speak to."

Anybody with any information is asked to contact the Incident Room on 0161 856 3691, Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or Phil Burke, chair of Manchester’s Village Business Association on 07968 203271.

David's thirteen-year-old half brother Samuel Barton has now also set up a website in memory of him and in the hope that his killer will be caught.

Click to view footage taken from CCTV of David Brown: (1) Entering The Paramount Pub (Wetherspoons) on Oxford Road in Manchester. (2) Collecting his coat from the cloak room in Cruz 101. (3) Crossing the road as he left Cruz 101 - the last time he was seen alive.