Paulius Riepsa

Paulius Riepsa was found dead in a bed at a squat at 50 Carnarvon Road, Stratford.

He had died from a brain haemorrhage after having been attacked.

His 24-year-old girlfriend later named three other people in the squat as having attacked Paulius Riepsa and then gang raping her.

They were tried at the Old Bailey in June 2010 but acquitted of both murder and rape.

As well as the three mentioned and Paulius Riepsa's girlfriend there were a number of other people in the squat, many of whom had been drinking.

Police were made aware of Paulius Riepsa's death after a man from the squat went to the police station the following morning and told them that there was a dead body in his house. When the police arrived they found Paulius Riepsa lying dead on a bed clasping a pendant and neck chain in his hand. They also noticed that the other people living in the squat were all obviously drunk.

It wasn't for another six days, on 5 November 2009 that Paulius Riepsa's girlfriend told the police that she had been raped as Paulius Riepsa had lain dying. She said that she had been too frightened to say anything at first.

The woman said that she had come with Paulius Riepsa from Lithuania in 2007 to find work and had ended up in the squat. She said that when they did get work that they spent if on alcohol.

She said that the men had attacked Paulius Riepsa as a punishment after he had told the police about their squat which was illegal. The police said that their records showed that complaints had been made by neighbours after arguments had taken place outside the house and they had warned the residents that they had until five days after 28 October 2009 to leave.

The police found a mobile phone on one of the residents that appeared to show Paulius Riepsa's girlfriend being stripped for sex.

One of the men who were tried said that he knew that Paulius Riepsa had been assaulted but said that it had been by someone else in the squat. He also admitted having sex with Paulius Riepsa's girlfriend but said that it was consensual. The other two men said that they had had nothing to do with any of it.

50 Carnarvon Road was a semi-derelict house.