A frail cancer patient who was badly beaten by thugs in East Ham has died more than four months after the attack.
Ahmet Dobran, 82, who lived in East Ham for most of his life, died in hospital yesterday.
The great-grandfather was left in a coma after being attacked by three men in Sussex Road shortly before 7pm on Sunday, August 27.
The men forced the father-of-five to the ground and stole jewellery and money worth £8,000.
Mr Dobran, who had previously been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and cancer, suffered three fractures to his spine.
He also lost the use of his left hand, could only walk for up to three minutes with a zimmer frame and required a tracheotomy to help him eat, drink and breathe.
Police had previously appealed for help to find three men they wanted to trace in connection with the attack.
One man, aged 33, was arrested and charged last month but the other two are yet to be identified.
Det Insp Iain Wallace, of Newham CID, said: “Mr Dobran was hospitalised following the attack in August and had been in an induced coma for several weeks until he was recently introduced to a nursing home.
“Sadly Mr Dobran’s health deteriorated soon after and he was taken to hospital and passed away. His family are utterly devastated and, whilst we are unable to ascertain at this time that he died as a result of the attack, we do know that at the very least it may have aggravated other existing conditions. We await the results of the post-mortem to determine this.
“Whilst one of the men has now been identified and charged we are still keen to trace two other men who are still outstanding. Someone knows who these men are and I would urge them to come forward to stop thm from using the same level of violence on another vulnerable person.”
The homicide and major crime command have been informed but at this time the investigation remains with officers in Newham.
Speaking to the Recorder in November, Mr Dobran’s daughter Lema described her father as a “proud” man who was regularly seen around East Ham before his ordeal wearing a two-piece suit and tie as he visited his favourite betting shop with friends and drank cappuccinos.
Anyone who recognises the men pictured is urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111. You can also tweet information to police @MetCC.
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