Simon Dobbin: Seventh man arrested in football fan murder probe

Cambridge United supporter Simon Dobbin was assaulted after the match at Southend United in March 2015

A seventh person has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a football fan who died five years after he was attacked.

Cambridge United supporter Simon Dobbin, from Mildenhall in Suffolk, was assaulted after the match at Southend United in March 2015 and left with permanent brain damage.

He died in October 2020, aged 48.

Essex Police said six men, aged, 27, 29, 30, 34, 39, 45, arrested on 10 June have been released under investigation.

The 26-year-old man, arrested on 26 June, has also been released under investigation, police confirmed.

"Simon was a completely innocent party in the disorder", Essex police said

Mr Dobbin was left unable to walk, talk or move independently after being attacked in Station Approach, Southend.

Police said: "Medical tests showed there was a direct link between his death and the injuries he had sustained.

"As a result of those conclusions, we began treating his death as a homicide" and a new investigation began.

Det Supt Stephen Jennings said Simon Dobbin's family have been "through an unimaginable time"

Det Super Stephen Jennings, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "Investigations into Simon's death showed a direct, causal link to the injuries he sustained in Southend on the day he was attacked in March 2015."

He said officers were speaking to number of people to gather their accounts.

In 2017, 13 people were convicted and sentenced in connection with the attack on Mr Dobbin.

Nine men were found guilty of violent disorder, three of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and one of assisting an offender.