Enlarge imageLONDON (Reuters) - Police hunting the killers of a black teenager bludgeoned to death with an axe in a racist attack in northern England arrested two more men on Monday.
Anthony Walker, 18, was beaten to death by a gang of three to four men on Friday evening in Liverpool, just minutes after he had been taunted with racist abuse while standing with his white girlfriend and a male relative.
The murder has shocked the community and revived memories of the 1993 murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was stabbed to death by racists in London.
Lawrence’s death and the subsequent investigation drew wide public interest, and led to an inquiry that concluded there was "institutionalised racism" in the London police force.
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Police investigating the Liverpool case said on Monday they had arrested two men, aged 26 and 29, on suspicion of murder. They already have a 17-year-old in custody and an 18-year-old has been released on bail.
They also want to speak to two other men, Paul Taylor, 20, and Michael Barton, 18, over the death and say the men may have left the country.
All of those wanted or arrested over the attack are from Huyton, the Liverpool neighbourhood where Walker was killed in a murder police have called a "despicable act".
Walker was a local college student described as a devout Christian.
Detectives said he had been abused by a man wearing a hooded top as he waited with his 17-year-old girlfriend and his cousin, also 17, at a bus stop in Huyton.
The trio did not respond and were moving away through a park when the gang attacked Walker.
His girlfriend and cousin ran to get help. When they returned they found him slumped on the ground with serious injuries to his head. He later died in hospital.
Police have vowed to catch the killers.
Local residents have been laying floral tributes to the dead teenager, who was a model student who wanted to become a lawyer, local media reported.
