A man from Bow has appeared in court accused of carrying out a fatal hammer attack on a stranger at a historic cemetery.

Erik Feld, 36, is charged with murdering Sri Lankan national Ranjith Kankanamalage last August.

The victim, aged 51, was last seen walking alone in Tower Hamlets on August 15.

A passer-by found him with "catastrophic injuries" the following morning at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

The 51-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene; a subsequent post-mortem examination established blunt impact injuries to the head as the cause of death.

The imprint of the round head of a hammer was identified on 11 of the wounds.

Feld, who lived in the nearby Tredegar Road, was arrested on August 20 last year and bailed while the investigation continued.

The 36-year-old was re-arrested this month and charged with murder, first appearing before Thames Magistrates’ Court last Saturday (January 22).

He and the victim are not believed to have known each other.

Feld appeared before the Old Bailey today - Tuesday, January 25 - for a preliminary hearing in which Judge Simon Mayo QC set a plea hearing for April 12.

A trial date was not set; Feld was remanded into custody.