Ngoc Giam Dang

Ngoc Giam Dang was assaulted in his flat and taken to hospital, but later died.

An ex-lodger was tried for murder but found not guilty.

It was said that the ex-lodger had beaten Ngoc Dang about the head with a giant wooden pestle at his flat as he slept in bed. The ex-lodger was a restaurant worker and Vietnamese.

Ngoc Dang had lived with his wife and she had her arm injured in the attack.

The murder weapon was said to have been a giant pestle with a rounded end, normally used for crushing and grinding substances. When the pestle was later examined by the police for DNA, it was found to have had Ngoc Dang's DNA but not the ex-lodger's DNA.

The police were called to Ngoc Dang's flat at about 1.45am and he was taken to hospital but died later that morning at 5.46am.

His cause of death was given as head injuries and his injuries included fractures to the skull, cheekbone and eye-socket.

Soon after, a 47-year-old woman was arrested, but she was soon released without charge. A 42-year-old man was then later arrested in Mare Street, Hackney.

The ex-lodger was then arrested on 5 July 2014. At the time he was living in Mare Street. He had been lodging with Ngoc Dang in his flat up until April 2014. He was said to have lived in the flat from October 2011 and to have paid £50 per week rent.

Ngoc Dang had lived in his flat with his wife and it was thought that Ngoc Dang had suspected that the ex-lodger had been seeing his wife and that that had led to animosity between them and arguments. It was heard that there was no doubt that there had been bad blood between Ngoc Dang and the ex-lodger and that they had not liked each other, and further heard that Ngoc Dang had threatened to report the ex-lodger to the immigration authorities because he had been working on England illegally.

At the trial the prosecution said that the ex-lodger had wanted revenge after being thrown out of the flat.

At the trial at the Old Bailey, it was heard that the ex-lodger had been seen in CCTV footage at 1.02am entering the block of flats and then leaving five minutes later. It was also heard that he was later found to have had Ngoc Dang's blood on his clothing.

However, the ex-lodger said that he had been having an affair with Ngoc Dang's wife and had gone there to have sex with her, and said that when he arrived at the flat, he had found Ngoc Dang already either dead or dying and that he had then run away because he was scared. He said that he had slept rough on the night of the murder.

However, Ngoc Dang's wife denied that their relationship had gone any further than lodger and landlady. However, the ex-lodger said that he had been having an affair with Ngoc Dang's wife for six-months and that he loved her. He said that whilst he had been living in the flat, he had been having sex with Ngoc Dang's wife despite Ngoc Dang being in the next room watching television.

The ex-lodger said that whilst he had lodged in the flat, Ngoc Dang had often been violent and aggressive towards his wife.

At the trial it was also heard that Ngoc Dang had earlier met the lodger in the street and that he had taken the ex-lodger’s laptop and smashed it.

The jury spent two days deliberating over their verdict before returning a not guilty verdict.