Detectives investigating the death of London banker Oliver Dearlove have arrested a man on suspicion of murder.
Dearlove, who worked as a relationship manager for the private bank Duncan Lawrie, and had previously worked for Coutts and Barclays, had been out in the Blackheath area of south London with former university friends last weekend when he was reportedly punched by an unknown assailant.
A postmortem held at Greenwich mortuary on Monday gave the provisional cause of death as intracranial haemorrhage – or bleeding on the brain.
A 31-year-old man was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of the 30-year-old’s murder and on suspicion of ABH after he attended a south London police station by appointment, Scotland Yard said. He remains in police custody.
Dearlove, who lived with his girlfriend in Eltham, was a keen football fan and played as a forward for his local team Lord Hood FC. He was set to go on holiday with friends to Las Vegas for a collective 30th birthday celebration.
His mother, Joy Wright, from Chislehurst, south-east London, told the Guardian her “perfect” son had “so much more life to live”.
“He was very easygoing, lots and lots of friends, played lots of football,” she said. “He studied hard at school. He worked for a private bank in Belgravia. He had been travelling for a year. He did what most nice people do.”
Claire Wheatley, Dearlove’s girlfriend of nearly four years, said they had recently discussed having a baby together. “We were trying to get some money together so we could buy a house together,” she said.
“We had big plans. We were planning on having a baby as well. He was the kindest person. He was the most amazing person I’ve ever met and ever known. I’m so lucky to have known him.”
Standup comedian and Mock the Week panellist Rob Beckett said on Twitter that Dearlove was his childhood best friend and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
My best friend growing up Oli Dearlove was killed in #Blackheath. If you have any info please report it. Please RT - https://t.co/amvXGf31D0
— Rob Beckett (@robbeckettcomic) August 29, 2016
Metropolitan police were called at around 12.45am on Sunday morning to reports of a man assaulted in Tranquil Vale, near Blackheath station.
Dearlove, who studied business management at Portsmouth university, and his friends had left a bar and walked down Montpelier Vale, turning right into Tranquil Vale, where they were waiting for a pre-booked taxi.
Dearlove was taken to an east London hospital where he died at 10.22pm on Sunday night.
DCI Lee Watling, who is leading the investigation, said: “Our investigation is continuing and we’ve made huge progress in identifying key witnesses and recovering vital CCTV.”
