A man has been jailed for the murder of 50-year-old Ranjith Kankanamalage who was brutally attacked with a hammer and killed in an east London cemetery.
Erik Feld, 37 (17.07.85) of Tredegar Road, E3 was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years following a hearing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, 14 June.
Feld was found guilty at the same court on Thursday, 23 March after the jury heard how his DNA was found under Ranjith’s fingernails. Feld was also found to have an obsession with hammer attacks, having researched and watched videos of such violent assaults.
Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway of the Central East Command Unit, responsible for policing in Tower Hamlets, said:
“While today’s sentencing brings to a close the judicial process into Ranjith’s murder, the shockwaves that this horrific attack caused amongst his family, friends and the people of Tower Hamlets continue to resonate.
“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.
“Our work with the LGBT+ people has been vital throughout this investigation and the advice and information we received from the Met’s pan-London LGBT+ Independent Advisory Group (LGBTAG), specialist charities and from LGBT+ individuals was invaluable. We still have some way to go to demonstrate that LGBT+ people can have trust and confidence in us, but the approach in this investigation hopefully shows we are listening and are committed to making improvements, ensuring that the past treatment of those in our LGBT+ communities, for which the Commissioner recently apologised, is consigned to history.
“This investigation also highlighted the strength of partnership between the police, Crown Prosecution Service and our local authority colleagues in Tower Hamlets; working tirelessly together to ensure Feld was held to account for his actions, and working with all our communities in Tower Hamlets to ensure people felt supported through this harrowing time – I am committed to ensuring we continue to build and maintain these strong relationships.”
Julius Capon, Head of CPS London Homicide, said: “Feld is a dangerous criminal who attacked a stranger in a park, with catastrophic consequences. He brought a hammer to the scene and has an obsession with horrific violence.
“Working alongside the Met, who conducted a thorough and meticulous investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service was able to present compelling evidence in court that proved Feld murdered Ranjith Kankanamalage.
“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.
“Together with partners including the police, we will continue to work to improve community safety, tackle all forms of hate and discrimination, and promote equity, diversity, and inclusion for all the communities we serve, including our valued LGBT+ individuals.
“Anyone impacted by hate crimes of any type should always report it.”
Tower Hamlets resident, Jack Gilbert, said on behalf of the LGBTAG – a voluntary group of independent advisors working closely with the police:
“Ranjith came to London to make a new life some time ago from Sri Lanka – a country where legal sanctions and harsh prejudice against LGBT+ people still exists. Our condolences extend to his grown up children, his former husband and his wider family and friends.
“The violence he was subjected to was unconscionable, and we welcome the sentence. In particular we welcome the Judge’s consideration of the threatening homophobic behaviour which Feld exhibited during the hearing.
“We worked closely with the local police and the homicide team to ensure that they incorporated recent learning. At a time when trust and confidence is it an all-time low, we will continue to provide robust independent advice to improve the police service delivered to LGBT+ Londoners in all our diversity.
“Whilst we saw Feld stride out of the witness stand to express homophobia during testimony, the CPS and Met were unable to find sufficient evidence for homophobic motivation for the crime. It may well be that the law and/or CPS guidelines themselves present a high barrier to convicting hate-related homicide.
“To satisfy LGBT+ trust and confidence, we are therefore seeking a multi-agency review linking a range of related aspects of the case. We would like to capture the innovations and to explore whether they are any opportunities for improvement, including in how the multi-agency processes monitors and manages the risk of hate crime.”
A murder investigation was launched, led by Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke, after Ranjith’s body was found in the early hours of 16 August 2021 by a member of the public in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. Ranjith has suffered significant head injuries inflicted by a hammer.
Detectives immediately began work to piece together Ranjith’s movements and established he had left his home in Whitechapel at around 22:00hrs on 15 August and that he had last been seen in the area at around 03:55hrs walking towards the park.
Feld – who lived close to the area of the attack – was initially arrested on suspicion of Ranjith’s murder on 20 August. Two days earlier, on 18 August, Feld had been arrested after waving a hammer about following an argument with a security guard at a shop. He had pled guilty to this and was awaiting sentencing.
After officers were made aware of this incident, further research into Feld’s background revealed he had a predilection for violence.
Officers searched his address in Tredegar Road, E3 and found three mallets and a sledgehammer. They also seized his phone and sent it for forensic analysis. Feld was bailed while this work was carried out but arrested again on 21 January 2022 after DNA analysis revealed his skin beneath Ranjith’s fingernails.
Detectives had also discovered disturbing material on his phone including multiple searches and views of videos on a website which glorified hammer attacks.
Feld declined to answer any questions while being interviewed by police but was nevertheless charged with Ranjith’s murder. He subsequently tried to claim that he acted in self-defence after he had met Ranjith by chance in the cemetery and feared he was about to be attacked. However, this story was deemed implausible by the jury.
= Further information and a fuller statement from the LGBTAG is available here.
Further information about Positive East and Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is available.
= As part of our commitment to rebuilding the trust amongst LGBT+ people and taking action to address findings in Baroness Casey’s review, the Met has recently announced that dedicated LGBT+ liaison officers are being restored across London. You can read more about this here.
