Two drug dealers who beat a man to death outside his home have been sentenced to life in prison.

Ian Tomlin, 46, died after being hit multiple times with a baseball bat. He was also stabbed in the neck in Charlotte Despard avenue, in Battersea, south-west London, on 17 October.

Tomlin, who confronted the two drug dealers outside his home, was struck with such force during the violent attack that the bat split, a trial at the Old Bailey heard.



Michael Swan and Tomlin’s neighbour, Gary Beech, were found guilty of his murder earlier this month.

On Friday, Judge Rebecca Poulet QC jailed Beech, 48, for a minimum of 21 years and Swan, 46, for a minimum of 19 years.

Poulet said the murder had involved “sustained and gratuitous violence” that had left Tomlin with “terrible injuries”.

At the start of the hearing, a statement from Tomlin’s 82-year-old mother, Monica, was read to the court by Alexandra Healy QC, prosecuting.



The court heard how she arrived at the scene of the attack to see her son lying in a “pool of blood” in the block of flats’ communal area. She said her son’s murder had left her feeling “completely lifeless” and “totally destroyed”.



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.



Summarising the case, Poulet said the murder was the “culmination of a year of hostility” between Tomlin and his killers.



Beech lived across the corridor from Tomlin in Cromwell House and had known him since childhood. Beech dealt class A drugs from his flat.

Swan, from Wandsworth, London, was in addition sentenced to 30 months in prison, which will be served concurrently with his life sentence, for perverting the course of justice by removing the bat from the scene.

Swan was described by the judge as a “serious crack and heroin addict” who was also involved in drug dealing.



Poulet said Tomlin was “very anti-drug” and upset by drug users ringing on his own door and smoking outside.



The judge told the court he was returning from shopping shortly before 5.30pm when he passed Beech and Swan in the block of flats. Words were exchanged and Tomlin returned to confront the men carrying a baseball bat and chain. An altercation occurred, during which he was stabbed.

Ian Tomlin, 46, died after being hit multiple times with a baseball bat outside his home. Photograph: Family Handout/PA

Poulet said he died “within minutes”, saying that he was stabbed while already unconscious. She said she was unable to conclude which defendant brought the knife to the scene but said the pair had launched a joint attack.



The judge conceded Tomlin had brought the bat and chain to confront Beech and Swan but rejected their claims of self-defence.

“He was attempting to deter you both from drug-related activity in the flats,” she said. “It appears to have led him to fear serious violence from you in any confrontation.”



She said Tomlin had died while “trying to combat serious anti-social behaviour in his block”.



Swan fled in a car after the attack, while Beech left the housing block temporarily before re-entering and going into his flat.



The court heard Beech and Swan had a long history of crime, including convictions for assault, carrying knives and possessing drugs.