Five people were today arrested in connection with the murder of a Dudley man who died on New Year’s Day more than 18 months after being attacked.

The suspects were being held over the death of trainee carpenter Ismaaeel Rehman, aged 24, who lived in Surrey Road, Woodside.

Three men in their 20s have been arrested on suspicion of murder and two women – one in her mid 20s and the other in her late teens – have been held on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

Mr Rehman was in intensive care for more than six weeks with severe head injuries after being beaten up and left in the street in Telford in July 2009.

He collapsed and died at a relative’s house on January 1 this year. Pathological tests revealed he died of post traumatic epilepsy that could be traced back to his injuries.

Mr Rehman, a former pupil at Dudley’s Holly Hall School and a keen basketball player, underwent extensive rehabilitation to enable him to speak again after the attack in the Heath Hill area of Dawley. All three men were arrested in Telford today.

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