Hammer attacker jailed for life for realising ‘depraved fantasy’ to kill

Erik Feld ambushed victim Ranjith Kankanamalage in an east London cemetery.

Erik Feld has jailed for life and must serve at least 28 years for the hammer killing of Ranjith Kankanamalage (Metropolitan Police/PA) (PA Media)

A psychopathic hammer attacker has been jailed for at least 28 years for realising his “depraved fantasy” to kill a random stranger in a Gothic graveyard.

Erik Feld, 37, had a long-standing obsession with extreme violence before he killed Ranjith Kankanamalage in a premediated attack, the Old Bailey heard.

Beforehand, Feld fed his fixation by buying a kitten in order to kill it and watching “snuff films” online of men and women being bludgeoned with hammers, the Old Bailey heard.

In the early hours of August 16 2021, Feld hid in the shadows behind a monument in Tower Hamlets cemetery in east London before hitting his prey 12 times in the face and head with a claw hammer.

The 50-year-old victim was found with catastrophic injuries by a member of the public on a path in cemetery park later the same morning.

In his trial, Feld concocted what the judge described as a preposterous “cock-and-bull” story and launched a homophobic rant at the victim, who had an ex-wife and two children in Sri Lanka and an ex-civil partner in the UK.

Feld was found guilty of murder in March and, on Wednesday, Mr Justice Bryan jailed him for life with a minimum term of 28 years.

The judge said it was an “horrific and abhorrent” murder.

He said that Feld had picked a “creepy and Gothic” setting because it fitted in with his long-standing desire to kill a stranger with a hammer and Mr Kankanamalage had the “severe misfortune” to encounter him.

Mr Justice Bryan told Feld his “selfish, callous, abhorrent actions carried out to fulfil your depraved fantasy” had a devastating impact on Mr Kankanamalage’s loved ones.

(Mr Kankanamalage) was a senior bank manager in Sri Lanka, a very accomplished athlete who won gold medals and completed two degrees in Sri Lanka as well as academic courses in the UK

Mr Kankanamalage's daughter, Hiruni

The judge agreed with barristers in the case that the starting point for sentencing was 25 years – rather than 30 years if murder was aggravated by hostility to his victim’s sexual orientation.

Feld had 10 previous convictions for 18 offences between 2002 to August 19 2021 including criminal damage, sex assault, battery and possession of an offensive weapon.

Among the offences: he had brandished an axe at passengers on the London Underground and sprayed black paint on his face and the word “kill” on a Tube window, the court was told.

Feld was arrested on August 20 2021 as he was awaiting sentence for waving a claw hammer outside a Poundland store two days after the killing.

A search of his home in Tower Hamlets, east London, uncovered two mallets and a sledge hammer in a hallway cupboard, and a third mallet in a living-room cupboard.

He was re-arrested in January 2022 after his DNA was found on bloodstained nail clippings from the left hand of his victim and he was spotted on CCTV footage in the area of the cemetery.

In a fresh search of his flat, police found another hammer and a cut-throat razor by Feld’s pillow.

Prosecutor Paul Cavin KC read a series of victim impact statements, including one from the victim’s daughter, Hiruni, on behalf of herself, her mother and younger brother who watched the sentencing by video link from Sri Lanka.

She described him as a kind and friendly person with life-long love of learning and an ambition to qualify in accountancy.

She said: “He was a senior bank manager in Sri Lanka, a very accomplished athlete who won gold medals and completed two degrees in Sri Lanka as well as academic courses in the UK.”

He was hoping to apply to become a British citizen and resume his career in banking, she added: “Before his dream came true, he was brutally murdered.”

Former civil partner John Kennedy told how he met Mr Kankanamalage at the Hilton Hotel in Heathrow where the victim was working at the time.

He said the realisation of what happened to him “hit me like a ton of bricks” and he was consumed be grief, depression and deep sadness.

He also felt sad for Mr Kankanamalage’s family in Sri Lanka, saying: “This was such a cruel and cowardly attack on a gentle and kind man who was just chilling in the park.”

In mitigation, Andrew Morris highlighted Feld’s “severe personality disorder”.

The defendant’s mother died when he was aged 11, he had no relationship with his father and grew up in an “abusive household”, Mr Morris said.

Feld stood with his arms crossed in the dock and made no reaction as he was sent down.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, of Scotland Yard, said: “Erik Feld’s actions demonstrated a brutal low of humanity, but the response of the communities across Tower Hamlets following Ranjith’s murder showed the opposite – people coming together to support each other, with the aim of ensuring the person responsible for this attack was brought to justice.

“From the outset, our officers investigated this as if it were a hate crime, but throughout the police investigation Feld has never disclosed why he attacked Ranjith with such force. He is clearly a violent and dangerous man and, as demonstrated by comments made during his trial, one who is fuelled by homophobia.”

Julius Capon, head of CPS London Homicide, said: “In this case, the CPS and Metropolitan Police Service gave careful consideration as to whether we had sufficient evidence to prove that this offence came within the definition of homophobic aggravation for the purposes of sentencing. All agreed that we could not prove that Feld’s actions were either motivated by homophobic hostility or that such hostility was demonstrated at the time of committing the offence.”

Lutfur Rahman, executive mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “I hope today’s sentence brings some comfort and justice to the friends and family of Ranjith Kankanamalage, whose violent murder deeply affected the community in Tower Hamlets and beyond.

“There is no place for hate in Tower Hamlets and we will continue to come together to oppose extremism and racism in all its forms.”