Andrey Kostyken

Andrey Kostyken was beaten to death in his home. A man was tried but acquitted.

He was a Ukrainian.

Andrey Kostyken was staying at a two-bedroom house in St Olave's Road with his father, a builder who was later tried for his murder and two women from Kurdistan.

Andrey Kostyken suffered from a ruptured gall bladder and broken ribs in an attack on 23 December 2000 but his father didn't call an ambulance until the next day because he was an illegal immigrant and didn't want to be deported. However, by the time an ambulance arrived after being called the following day, Andrey Kostyken was dead.

It was first thought that Andrey Kostyken had died from an alcohol-related heart attack but his post mortem showed that he had been assaulted.

It was said that the builder that was charged with Andrey Kostyken's murder had kicked and punched him after he had refused to clean up vomit from the kitchen floor.

However, the evidence given in court by Andrey Kostyken's father contradicted other witness statements and it was also shown that the man who was alleged to have assaulted Andrey Kostyken was shown, in CCTV footage, to have been outside the house at the time of the assault. As such the judge directed the jury to acquit the builder.