Age: 50
Sex: male
Date: 8 Feb 1998
Place: Carey Gardens, Battersea, London
Esmond Lewis was stabbed to death at his flat in Carey Gardens, Battersea on 8 February 1998.
A man was arrested for his murder but he tried to hang himself whilst in police custody when he was left alone for ten minutes. He was left disabled and unable to instruct his defence lawyers, and at the trial the judge told the jury that they had to determine whether he had killed Esmond Lewis but directed the jury to acquit him on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence.
Esmond Lewis was found dead in his flat in a pool of blood.
He was last seen coming back from a regular visit to Guys Hospital on 6 February 1998 where he had been being treated for weak kidneys.
He had been stabbed seventeen times about the head and neck.
The mother of the man that was acquitted of his murder had lived near Carey Gardens. It was also heard that the man's fingerprints were found in Esmond Lewis's flat as well as on cigarette butts that indicated that he had been there shortly before the murder.
It was said that the man arrested for the murder had been attempting to rob Esmond Lewis.
The man that was acquitted had lived in Binley house, on Highcliffe Drive in Roehampton and was later arrested on 17 March 1998 and taken to Norwood police station. He then asked that his mother was told of his arrest and asked for a solicitor. After that he was left in a cell for about ten minutes in which time he tried to hang himself.
He was found to have no pulse and was not breathing and was then taken to Queen Mary's hospital in Roehampton where he was admitted to the intensive care unit and brought back to life. However, he was left disabled and unable to take part in his trial, being unfit to be tried and unable to say what his defence was.
It was heard at the trial that if the jury found that the man had committed the act then he would be committed to a hospital until such a time that he could be tried, but that following his acquittal there would be no requirement for him to face any future trial. He was then acquitted.
