A homophobic man who battered a man to death with a claw hammer in the purposely-chosen gothic setting of a cemetery has been jailed for at least 28 years.
Erik Feld, 37, hid in the shadows behind a monument before launching himself on Ranjith Kankanamalage, 51, in the early hours of the morning, the Old Bailey heard.
Mr Kankanamalage, was hit 12 times in the face and head with the hammer in East London, causing 'catastrophic' injuries. The victim was found by a member of the public on a path in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park later on August 16, 2021.
The court heard that Feld, who has a diagnosed personality disorder, had deliberately chosen a 'gothic and monochromatic setting' to kill the victim.
He often went out 'with a hammer, screwdriver or razor blades, hoping to catch someone unawares ... down alleys', the court heard. He also admitted to a mental health assessor in 2017 that he sometimes went out with a weapon 'for example a hammer' in case an 'opportunity presented itself'.
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He was arrested over Mr Kankanamalage's death four days later, after threatening a Poundland security guard with a hammer, but subsequently released on police bail. He was rearrested in January 2022, when DNA taken from blood on the victim's fingernails linked him to the crime.
Jurors were told that Mr Kankanamalage was a regular visitor to the 'spooky' cemetery, which was known as a 'cruising' hotspot.
Under cross-examination, Feld embarked on an astonishing homophobic rant about the victim, who had an ex-wife and two children in Sri Lanka and an ex-civil partner in the UK.
Afterwards, prosecutor Paul Cavin KC told jurors that Feld had 'dark places in his soul' that were 'not in the darkest recesses but very near the surface'.
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Jurors, who deliberated for three hours and 23 minutes to unanimously find Feld guilty of murder, were not told that he 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.
Sentencing him to life with a minimum term of 28 years, Mr Justice Bryan told him: 'I must sentence you for this horrific and abhorrent murder.
'You chose a creepy gothic and monochromatic setting which no doubt fitted with your fantasies of carrying out an attack with a hammer. It wouldn't matter to you what the sexuality of those in the park were, just that there would be individuals in the park.
'You went to that park with a claw hammer with the intention of hammering to death anyone you might find. You invented a
-and-bull story that you had the hammer with you in the park to help you sleep and comfort you.'
Feld interrupted the judge at one point to yell from the dock: 'You've made many mistakes. You've got it wrong.'
But Mr Justice Bryan continued: 'Mr Kankanamalage was unarmed and meant you no harm. They jury rightly rejected your incredible account. This was a murderous assault perpetrated by you on a defenceless and innocent victim.
'In the circumstances, I do not consider, and certainly cannot be sure, that the murder was motivated by hostility to a particular sexual orientation.'
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Erik Feld, 37, was sentenced to at least 28 years behind bars after he battered Ranjith Kankanamalage, 51, to death with a hammer in a cemetery near Tower Hamlets
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