Two men accused of bashing a gay man in a vigilante attack have been found guilty of murder.

Daniel Wade Jones and Mark Taylor were on trial accused of murdering Warren Batchelor, 48, at Middle Swan Reserve in Caversham in November 2013.

Mr Batchelor was formerly a well known DJ in Sydney.

A jury took just five hours decide on the pairs guilt on Friday following a two week long trial.

The ABC has reported that the court heard how the two men confronted Mr Bachelor in the park’s public toilets. Mr Batchelor was having a sexual encounter with another man in the disabled toilets when Taylor and Jones kicked in the door and bashed him.

The man who was in the toilet with Mr Bachelor, whose name has been suppressed by the court, gave evidence describing how there was a knock at the door of the cubicle before it was kicked in and both men were attacked.

The witness described how Mr Batchelor was ‘king hit’ before being bashed with a metal pole. He died in hospital two days later.

The pair will return to count next month for a sentencing hearing.

OIP Staff