Five men standing trial for a mass axe brawl in a Mitcham car park that left one man dead and four seriously wounded have had all murder charges against them dropped.

The brief but deadly brawl in Sibthorpe Road car park, Holborn Way, on November 23, led to the death of 26-year-old Justin Croos, with four other men sustaining serious injuries, including one who almost had his fingers chopped off.

Eight men in total were charged with the murder of Mr Croos, and the attempted murders of Jeyathpan Ganeslingham, Mahinda Mahndaskaran, Mayuran Gunaretnam and Hassan Rahman, and violent disorder. Their trial began at the Old Bailey on Monday, June 6.

However, this morning (July 22) Judge Zoe Smith directed the jury to find three defendants not guilty of all the charges against them, and a further two defendants not guilty of all offences apart from violent disorder.

Mitcham residents Gowrishanth Loganathan, 21, of Cambridge Road, Jerome Anton Jeyakumar, 23, of Framfield Road, and Vithusan Balamurali, 20, of Hawkes Road, no longer face any charges in relation to the Sibthorpe Road car park attack. All three men had been remanded in custody since they were charged in December, February and April respectively.

Mohanran Parimalanathan, 22, of Stafford Road, Wallington and Visuparathan Dayaparan, 23, of Phipps Bridge Road, Mitcham, no longer face any charges of murder or attempted murder. However, both men will still stand trial for violent disorder.

Prashad Sothilingham, 25, of Edgehill Road, Mitcham, Araventhan Puventhiran, 21, of Stoneleigh Avenue, Worcester Park, and Sivakaran Ockersz, 18, of Heathdene Road, Wallington, still face all six of the original charges.

The trial continues