Man battered to death with baseball bat after confronting drug dealers over noise, court hears

Ian Tomlin left to die next to rubbish chute after ‘extraordinarily vicious attack’, court hears

Ian Tomlin, who died outside his home last October (PA)

A man was battered with a baseball bat, stabbed and left to die at a rubbish chute next to his front door after complaining about drug dealers making noise outside his flat, a court has heard.

Ian Tomlin, 46, was said to have been hit with such force that the bat split during the fatal attack in Battersea, south-west London.

Two men, Michael Swan and Gary Beech – Mr Tomlin’s neighbour – are accused of carrying out the killing on 17 October, London's Old Bailey heard.

Prosecutor Alexandra Healy QC said there was “a history of tension” between the victim and the defendants in the run-up to the killing, suggesting the suspects had been dealing drugs in CCTV blindspots on the estate where they lived.

“The Crown say Beech and Swan murdered Mr Tomlin," she said. "He was hit repeatedly on the head with a baseball bat. He was also stabbed a number of times in the neck."

She added: “The Crown say they carried out an extraordinarily vicious attack on Mr Tomlin."

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 at around 5.30pm.

Ms Healy said the CCTV footage showed Mr Beech “carrying a baseball bat that has been used to batter Mr Tomlin, so hard that the bat appears to have been split”.

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

Floral tributes and sign left near Battersea flats following the death of Ian Tomlin (PA)

She said Mr Swan, giving evidence to police following his arrest for murder, said he “knew the murderer” but would not name him, adding there had been cross words between the parties in the run-up to the death.

Ms Healy said: “Mr Swan described how the day before he was with his friends on the estate where they sell drugs."

The court heard how Mr Swan told police there was an argument on the day Mr Tomlin died, and the latter returned to confront them armed with a “long chain and a large bat”.

The defendant told police the pair grappled on the floor before his “friend” began hitting Mr Tomlin with a bat. Ms Healy added: “He [Mr Swan] said how the deceased had complained to his friend because he was making too much noise on the landing.”

Mr Swan is said to have fled in a car, while Mr Beech left the housing block temporarily before re-entering and going into his own flat – which would have taken him past the dying Mr Tomlin on the floor, the court heard.

Mr Beech, 48, denies murder. Mr Swan, 46, of Wandsworth, also denies murder and an additional charge of perverting the course of justice by allegedly removing the bat from the scene.

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by PA