Tower Hamlets murderer has bid to appeal refused

During his trial last year, the judge said Erik Feld was "obsessed with violence" and jailed him for at least 28 years

A man found guilty of murder in east London has been refused a bid to appeal against the length of his jail term at the Court of Appeal.

Erik Feld, now aged 38, hit Ranjith Kankanamalage repeatedly in the head with a claw hammer, causing catastrophic injuries in August 2021.

The 50-year-old victim was on a path in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

Feld was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years last June, which his lawyers called "manifestly excessive".

An Old Bailey jury had found him unanimously guilty of murder in March.

Feld's trial at the Old Bailey last year heard he had a long-standing obsession with violence, which saw him watch films of people being bludgeoned to death with hammers.

During cross-examination, Feld went on what the prosecution described as "an extraordinary homophobic outburst" about the victim.

His defence argued he had hit out in self-defence after the victim made a pass at him at the cemetery, known as a "cruising" hotspot.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Feld argued that his sentence was excessive due to the sentencing judge failing to correctly take into account the effects of his personality disorder on his offending.

But at the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Coulson, sitting with Mrs Justice Foster and Mr Justice Hilliard, denied his appeal bid.

Rajith Kankanamalage was studying in the hope of becoming an accountant

Lord Justice Coulson said: "We reject the submission that the 28-year minimum term was manifestly excessive.

"This renewed application for permission to appeal must be refused."

'Depraved fantasy'

Mr Kankanamalage, a father of two, was struck 12 times during the attack and suffered a shattered skull.

Feld had previously expressed a desire to kill a random stranger, which his trial's sentencing judge, Mr Justice Bryan, labelled a "depraved fantasy".

The judge also said that despite Feld's personality disorder, he "understood perfectly well" his actions.

Feld also has multiple previous convictions including for brandishing an axe at passengers on the London Underground.

The previous convictions and the pre-meditated nature of the attack led to the 25-year starting point being uplifted to 28 years.

Feld's barrister, Andrew Morris, argued on Wednesday that Mr Justice Bryan had not acknowledged psychiatric evidence that Feld's mental health had played a "significant" role in the murder and that the sentence was too high.

He said the "severity" of Feld's disorder made the case "unusual".

But in his ruling, Lord Justice Coulson said Mr Justice Bryan had showed "careful regard" to medical evidence and said criticisms of him were "misplaced".

"We are bound to agree with the sentencing judge that the planning and pre-meditation [of the murder] were not explained by the personality disorder.

"We conclude that the sentencing judge was entitled to find that the aggravating factors outweighed the single mitigating factor."

Feld did not attend the hearing.

Correction 30th January: Although this article explains that at his trial Erik Feld had went on what the prosecution described as "an extraordinary homophobic outburst" about the victim, we have removed an earlier reference in the headline and introduction to a homophobic murder because this was not found to be a factor in the attack on Mr Kankanamalage.

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