Age: 58
Sex: male
Date: 15 Feb 2012
Place: Loampit Hill, Lewisham
Earl Warburton was assaulted during a robbery at his flat in Loampit Hill, Lewisham, at about 2.25am on 15 February 2012.
He died 15 minutes after receiving multiple injuries.
He was described as a well-known character in the area and was said to have run a brothel called 'Madonnas' from his flat above a barber’s shop on Loampit Hill. He had also run another brothel in Plumstead Common.
It was said that a number of men had come into his flat and demanded money and that a violent struggle had taken place during which Earl Warburton received his injuries.
He had been in the flat with four prostitutes when the men came in via a door usually reserved for clients. They then ordered the women to lie on the floor whilst two men grabbed Earl Warburton and restrained him and then dragged him into a bathroom. however, it was noted that he had put up a fight. A detective said:
After searching the flat the men fled and the women, after some time got up, and two of them fled and have never since been traced.
The other two women then went into the bathroom and found Earl Warburton with blood coming from his head, describing him as looking like a sack of potatoes.
One of the women, who didn't speak English tried to call the police, but dialed 911 instead, whilst the other ran off to a nearby Tesco store and asked for help and a night worker there went to the flat and tried to apply CPR to Earl Warburton.
When the paramedics arrived, they described seeing:
Earl Warburton's post mortem found that he had suffered from three key injuries, a head injury, a fractured nose and a compressed neck.
Traces of cannabis were also found in his system.
It was heard that he had breathed in blood from his broken nose but that he had also been unconscious from blows to his head and that along with his neck compression, all three of those factors contributed to his death.
He was also found to have had defensive injuries.
His inquest at Southwark Coroner’s Court recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
He had lived in the Loampit Hill area for more than 20 years and had been known as Duke.
