A jury at the Old Bailey have been unable to decide whether a man is guilty of murder following a mass axe brawl in a Mitcham car park.

Justin Croos, 26, was killed in the violent fight in Sibthorpe Road car park, Holborn Way, on November 23. He died two days later in hospital from severe head injuries.

Four other men – Jeyathpan Ganeslingham, Mahinda Mahndaskaran, Mayuran Gunaretnam and Hassan Rahman – were also seriously hurt in the brawl. Mr Mahndaskaran almost lost his fingers after he said he raised his hand to protect his neck from an axe blow.

June 13: Victim of mass axe brawl in Sibthorpe Road car park, Mitcham, describes moment his friend Justin Croos was killed

Eight men in total were charged with the murder of Mr Croos, the attempted murders of Mr Ganeslingham, Mr Mahndaskaran, Mr Gunaretnam and Mr Rahman, as well as violent disorder. They denied all the charges.

Fourteen men are thought to have ran into Sibthorpe Road car park to launch the attack, after leaving a party in the nearby Morrison’s car park. Weapons including axes, machetes, swords, knives, metal bars, glass bottles and socks with snooker balls in are believed to have been used, although none of the weapons have been recovered by police.

Two men, Inkaran Balasingham and Sugan Selvarajan, are still wanted by police.

The long and complicated trial began on June 6, and on July 22 Judge Zoe Smith directed the jury to find three defendants not guilty of all charges against them. They were also directed to find two other defendants not guilty of all charges apart from violent disorder.

July 22: Mitcham axe fight trial: Five men found not guilty of the murder of Justin Croos in Sibthorpe Road car park

When the jury retired to consider the verdict on August 11, three men still faced all six original charges. On August 17, the jury found Araventhan Puventhiran, 21, of Stoneleigh Avenue, Worcester Park, and Sivakaran Ockersz, 18, of Heathdene Road, Wallington, not guilty of murder.

They have been unable to agree on whether Prashad Sothilingham, 25, of Edgehill Road, Mitcham, is guilty of Mr Croos’ murder, or the attempted murder of Mr Ganeslingham.

Both Sothilingham and Puventhiran were found guilty of violent disorder on August 24, but the jury have not been able to agree whether Mr Ockersz or co-defendant Visuparathan Dayaparan, 23, of Phipps Bridge Road, Mitcham, are guilty of the same offence.

The defendants will appear again at the Old Bailey for a case management hearing on Wednesday, September 7.

The verdicts so far:

  • Prashad Sothilingham: Guilty of violent disorder on a majority verdict. The jury has not reached a verdict on whether he is guilty for the murder of Justin Croos or the attempted murder of Jeyathpan Ganeslingham, but found him not guilty on the other three counts of attempted murder.
  • Araventhan Puventhiran: Guilty of violent disorder on a majority verdict. The jury found him not guilty on all other counts.
  • Sivakaran Ockersz: The jury have been unable to decide whether he is guilty of violent disorder. He has been found not guilty on all other counts.
  • Visuparathan Dayaparan: Judge Smith directed the jury to find him not guilty of all charges apart from violent disorder. The jury have been unable to agree on a violent disorder verdict.
  • Mohanran Parimalanthan, 22, of Stafford Road, Wallington: Judge Smith directed the jury to find him not guilty of all charges apart from violent disorder. The jury found him not guilty of violent disorder on August 24.
  • Gowrishanth Loganathan, 21, of Cambridge Road, Mitcham, Jerome Anton Jeyakumar, 23, of Framfield Road, Mitcham, and Vithusan Balamurali, 20, of Hawkes Road, Mitcham: Judge Smith directed the jury to find them not guilty of all charges against them.