Hunt for killer of boy bludgeoned and burnt in park

The naked and badly burnt body of a schoolboy, who had been battered round the head, was discovered by a passer-by in a popular London park, detectives said yesterday. The remains were so badly charred only a post-mortem examination was able to establish the boy was of Asian origin, officers added.

Scotland Yard detectives s leading the investigation said they were keeping an open mind on the possibilities that the boy was the victim of a sex attacker, or of a ritualistic killing, although there is no direct evidence to support either theory.

The brutality of the murder will add to public fears over crime levels in London and raise new concerns over the safety of young children in the capital. The body is believed to have been set on fire, using petrol or another accelerant, during on the night of Monday to Tuesday this week in Roe Green Park, Kingsbury, an outer suburb of north-west London.

It was found, face down under a tree, by a man who was walking through the park on his way to work at 8.30am on Tuesday morning. After the post-mortem examination at London's Northwick Park Hospital, a pathologist took the view that the boy had been beaten to death at the spot where he was found.

He estimated that the victim was probably between 12 and 14 but could have been as old as 16. The boy was 5ft 2ins tall, weighed seven and a half stone, and is thought to have had short, spiky hair which was shaved at the back of his head.

At a witness appeal at Scotland Yard yesterday, Detective Superintendent Nigel Mawer, who is leading the murder inquiry, said the primary cause of death was "serious head injuries" but that no weapon had been found.

He denied reports that the boy's hands had been cut off and his teeth removed and said it was impossible to say whether the victim had been dead or alive when he was set alight. The body had not been bound and no attempt had been made to conceal . The officer added: "Someone must know who this boy is and know who killed him, and we need people to come forward."

Several local people claim to have seen the body before police covered it. They said the face was "smashed in".

Yesterday a yellow and white tent had been erected on the spot where the body was found, about 35 yards into the park.

Later police removed the tent and a dozen officers wearing white gloves moved in on hands and knees to search the spot where the body was found.

Other officers spent yesterday on house to house inquiries. Oren Parry, 20, said: "A policeman came round and interviewed me last night and said they had found a body burnt behind a playpen in the park.

"The police officer seemed very upset. Obviously it must have been horrific if they weren't even able to tell what colour it was."

Although some residents talked of rising levels of petty crime and pointed out that gangs of youths often congregated on the open park, the brutality of the killing came as a shock. Georgina Kleanthous, 56, said: "The park is very safe and I used to walk my dog there early in the morning, about the time this boy's body was found.

"A lot of people who live in this road are elderly and most have lived here for years and years, and we have never seen anything awful like this before."

Police are collecting and examining CCTV footage from the area. Checks of pupil registers at local schools will be made but have been hampered by the half-term holiday.