Brian Metcalfe

Brian Metcalfe was beaten to death on wasteland under a railway bridge near a car park close by Station Road in Wath.

His body was found by a dog walker on 14 October 2001 shortly after 5pm after lying there for about two days. The carpark and railway bridge were near to Wath Rubber and Plastics.

The police said that they thought that he had been kicked to death and described the attack as apparently motiveless.

Brian Metcalfe last called a friend on Friday 12 October 2001 at about 2am and it was thought that he had been killed later that morning. He had been out drinking in pubs around Wath. The medical evidence suggested that he had died before 8am on the Friday but there was an unconfirmed sighting of him on the Saturday, 13 October 2001 and the police said that they were interested in hearing from anyone else that had seen him.

It was thought that he might have known the person that attacked him and that the answers to his murder probably lay in the local community.

A man was arrested soon after his body was found but he was released without charge.

His cause of death was given as blunt trauma to the chest, as a result of an assault. It was said that he had been kicked and had suffered multiple injuries as well as receiving a blow to the chest that had caused his heart to stop.

Brian Metcalfe was described as a loner and a quiet man who rarely went out and who preferred to socialise at home with his friends. The police said that they were trying to determine why Brian Metcalfe might have been out on the Saturday night. He was also a bachelor.

Further investigation found that he had been seen with a woman in Wath a week before he died. Also, reports were made of sightings of some people near the car park over the weekend that he died.

He had been wearing black denim jeans and a black leather jacket. He was 5ft 8in tall and had a stocky build.