The brother of murdered Eastbourne accountant Jay Abatan says he will not rest or grieve until his killers are brought to justice.

Michael Abatan's pledge was echoed by the new Sussex Police Chief Constable Ken Jones after the two met last night.

Jay Abatan, from Eastbourne, was assaulted on January 24, 1999, outside the Ocean Rooms club in Morley Street, Brighton, after a dispute about a taxi.

The 42-year-old father-of-two fell into a coma and later died in hospital. Police are treating his death as a racist murder.

Michael Abatan, 36, from Brighton, said: "Jay fought to live for five days in hospital and he didn't give up.

"I promised him I would get justice and as long as the killers are out there and people are protecting them I will carry on fighting for justice."

The first investigation into Mr Abatan's death failed to find his killers and was heavily criticised.

A second investigation, Operation Hurling, has been running for about a year.

It remains the Sussex force's largest inquiry, with between 30 and 40 officers working on it.

Mr Abatan met the chief constable in the run-up to the third anniversary of his brother's death to seek reassurances the murder hunt would not be scaled down or dropped.

After the meeting he said: "Ken Jones has given us his total support. He is backing the new investigation and is committed to bringing this tragedy to a positive conclusion.

"If we can jog anyone's memory I would appeal for them to come forward and help the police."

Mr Jones, who has vowed to restore confidence in the police since taking up his new role earlier this month, said his first priority was bringing the murderers to justice.

He said: "There are a number of people in this area who know exactly what happened that night and I would urge them to come forward.

"We all want safer streets and it's part of taking personal responsibility."

Contact the incident room on 0845 6070999 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 with information.