A man who was attacked in a suspected homophobic assault died last night when doctors switched off his life support machine.

Ian Baynham, 62, was walking through Trafalgar Square in Central London with a 30-year-old friend when a woman began shouting homophobic abuse at him.

He went to talk to her but she attacked him and a man with her is said to have punched him to the floor and then kicked him. A second young woman was also involved in the incident.

Mr Baynham, from Beckenham, southeast London, was taken to hospital after the attack two weeks ago suffering from severe brain damage.

He had just got off a number 24 bus with his friend when the three youths confronted them. The friend was treated for minor injuries.

Detectives from Scotland Yard’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command are investigating the murder. They are trying to trace three young people, including two teenage girls who were caught on CCTV, seen in the area. Investigators said that the three, aged between 16 and 20, are suspected of shouting verbal abuse at other people as well.

In July, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson highlighted his concerns over an increase of homophobic crimes in the capital.

He said that the force’s response to such crimes was “light years” ahead of what it was in the past with victims more willing to report offences.

Senior officers were told that homophobic crimes had increased by almost 14 per cent, an extra 39 offences, since April. There had also been an increase nationally.

There have been three other suspected homophobic murders in the capital over the past year.

In July, Edward Highwood, 79, was murdered at his home in Greenwich. Neighbours and friends feared that he was targeted because he was gay.

Gerry Edwards, 59, was stabbed to death at his flat in Bromley in March. His partner also suffered stab wounds.

In November 2008, David Cooper, 28, was beaten to death at his flat in Woolwich. He had been drinking in Soho the night before his murder.

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