Five men in murder quiz over TV dad
‘Medical tests show death is linked to 2015 assault’
FIVE men have been quizzed on suspicion of murdering a DIY SOS star – seven years after he was attacked by rival football fans.
Simon Dobbin, 48, a Cambridge United fan, died five years after he was left brain-damaged following an assault in Southend, Essex, in March 2015.
Detectives have said the arrests were made after investigations into his death “showed a direct link to the injuries he sustained on the day he was attacked”. Officers have now questioned five men – aged 27, 30, 34, 39 and 45 – who they arrested at addresses across South Essex yesterday.
Simon, right, suffered permanent brain damage after being assaulted following an away game at Southend United. He was left unable to walk or talk, and died at his home in Mildenhall, Suffolk, on 21 October 2020, aged 48.
In 2017, a court convicted 13 men for attacking Simon. Nine men were guilty of violent disorder, three of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and one of assisting an offender.
Last November, Essex Police offered a £20,000 reward for information from the public that would lead to a conviction.
The former RAF gunner featured on DIY SOS in January 2019 with his wife Nicole, 51, who he married in 1998, and their daughter Emily. Nicole said: “Hopefully there will be justice for Simon finally. We struggled to come to terms with the initial trial as a family.
“We felt that the justice system had let us and Simon down. We won’t have closure until that final sentence.”
Det Supt Stephen Jennings, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: “Simon was a completely innocent party and his family have been through an unimaginable time.”