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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Megan White

Ian Tomlin murder: Pair who battered man to death for complaining about drug dealing are jailed for life

Two men who battered a man to death with a baseball bat after he complained about drug dealing outside his home have been jailed for life.

Ian Tomlin, 46, was stabbed in the neck and hit several times across the head so violently that the bat split.

He was killed outside his home in Cromwell House, Battersea, on October 17.

A jury found Michael Swan and Mr Tomlin's neighbour, Gary Beech, guilty of his murder following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Judge Rebecca Poulet QC handed the pair life sentences at the same court on Friday.

Ian Tomlin, 46, was stabbed in the neck and hit several times across the head so violently that the bat split (PA/Met Police)

Sentencing Beech, 48, and Swan, 46, of Enterprise Way in Wandsworth, the judge said the murder involved "sustained and gratuitous violence".

"These were terrible injuries, the result of a brutal attack with two weapons," she said.

The judge ruled that Beech would serve a minimum term of 21 years and Swan a minimum of 19 years.

CCTV released by the Met Police shows Swan leaving the building after Mr Tomlin was attack, carrying what appeared to be the baseball bat.

He is then seen driving away from the scene.

The court heard Beech left the housing block temporarily before re-entering and going into his flat, a journey which would have taken him past Mr Tomlin as he way dying on the floor.

Prosecutor Alexandra Healy QC read out a statement from Mr Tomlin's 82-year-old mother Monica who had witnessed her son lying "in a pool of blood" after the attack.

Gary Beech will serve at least 21 years behind bars (Metropolitan Police)

Mrs Tomlin said his murder had left her feeling "completely lifeless" and "totally destroyed" by the memories of seeing Mr Tomlin's injuries.

Her family had been "smothered in grief" by her son's death, which had left a "hole in my heart that will never be filled", she said.

Ms Healy had previously told the court that there was "a history of tension" between Mr Tomlin and the defendants in the run-up to the killing, with suggestions that the suspects dealt drugs in CCTV blindspots on the estate where they lived.

She said: "The Crown say Beech and Swan murdered Mr Tomlin.

"He was hit repeatedly on the head with a baseball bat. He was also stabbed a number of times in the neck."

Michael Swan was jailed for a minimum of 19 years (Metropolitan Police)

CCTV from a building nearby, which looks on to Cromwell House, was played to the jury and appeared to show "a ruckus" on the first floor.

Ms Healy told jurors that evidence suggested Mr Tomlin returned home with shopping moments earlier, then grabbed a baseball bat and a bike chain from underneath his bed to confront Swan and Beech.

The court was told both defendants had a long history of crime, including convictions for assault.

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