A vigil is to be held to call for justice for a man fatally injured in an attack outside a nightclub two decades ago.
Jay Abatan suffered multiple injuries when he was assaulted outside the Ocean Rooms in Morley Street in Brighton in 1999.
Now, 24 years on, his family are holding an annual vigil to “remember Jay, call once again for justice and appeal for witnesses to come forward”.
Michael Abatan has been fighting for justice since his brother died on January 29, 1999, five days after he was attacked.
Jay and Michael had been out celebrating Jay’s promotion with PriceWaterhouseCoopers when they were attacked as they waited for a taxi.
At an inquest into Jay's death in 2010, a coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
In an interview with The Argus in 2019, Michael said that his family had “never had a satisfactory answer” as to why Jay was killed.
Despite the incident being investigated, no one was ever brought to trial for Jay’s death.
Retired Chief Constable Nick May previously said the force has “apologised publicly and often for failings in 1999”.
He said the force had “completely updated and reorganised the way it investigates crimes" since the case.
He said officers were “committed to investigating any new information” if anything came to light but “there were no grounds to reopen an investigation in the absence of further evidence”.
Jay's family have held regular vigils outside Brighton Police Station to call for justice.
The cause has been supported in the past by Sir Peter Bottomley, MP for West Worthing where Jay and Michael were constituents.
At the event last year, he said: "The fatal attack was a crime. It should have been solved within days.
"The police made mistakes to begin with and now there's more evidence available. I want the police to take it up to see if they can bring charges the way late charges were brought successfully in the Stephen Lawrence case."
The justice for Jay Abatan vigil is to be held on Sunday, January 29, at 2pm outside Brighton Police Station in John Street.
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