Police are hunting the killer of a 19-year-old man who was set upon as he and a friend walked home through a park after a night out.
The man, who has not yet been named by police, and his friend were taking a short-cut through Dean Gardens, a park in Ealing, West London, when the attack happened, say police.
The victim was beaten about the head with a blunt instrument. He was found in the park with serious head injuries by a member of the public and was taken to hospital.
He died less than 40 minutes later. His friend escaped unharmed.
Scotland Yard launched a murder inquiry and forensic teams began an intensive search of the park for clues.
A police spokesman said: "Police were called at approximately 1.18 today to reports of a male injured in Dean Gardens, West Ealing. Police and London Ambulance attended and found a male, believed to be 19 years-old, suffering from a head injury.
"He was taken to a west London hospital where his life was pronounced extinct at 1.57am.
"At this early stage we believe the victim had been socialising in the Ealing area and was making his way home when he and a friend got into a dispute after exiting a bus on Northfield Avenue, close to where the man was found."
He said the man, who is black, was attacked with a "blunt instrument".
The murder happened in a park near a busy shopping street in an area popular with migrants.
