Two men will spend at least 40 years combined behind bars for the murder of Ian Tomlin.

Gary Beech, 48, of Charlotte Despard Avenue, Battersea, and Michael Swan, 46, of Enterprise Way, were both sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 21 and 19 years respectively.

During the trial, the Old Bailey heard how Beech and Tomlin were neighbours, and that Swan, a close friend of Beech, was a regular visitor to the block.

Ian believed the pair were dealing drugs from there and often challenged their presence on the estate.

This had led to a long-running feud between the victim and the two defendants, spanning many months before the attack.

On October 17, 2018, Ian returned home shortly after 5.20pm to find Beech and Swan meeting in a communal area on the first floor landing of the building.

The court heard from a witness who described how Ian had armed himself with a baseball bat and chain during the confrontation. CCTV footage captured Swan and Ian fighting, with Beech intervening.

Ian was then overcome and struck on the head a number of times with the baseball bat he brought to the scene; he was also stabbed repeatedly in the neck.

Beech and Swan then left the block, Swan carrying what appeared, from CCTV footage, to be the baseball bat.

Police arrived on scene shortly after the assault, and found Ian lying on the floor of the first floor communal lift area with severe injuries.

He had received fatal wounds to the back of his head and neck and, despite the efforts of emergency services, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination was held and identified Ian's cause of death as a blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds to the neck.

Detectives from Homicide and Major Crime Command launched an immediate investigation into Ian’s murder.

Analysis of CCTV footage identified Beech and Swan as the men who had brutally assaulted Ian and left him for dead.