A man beaten to death in Ilford has been named tonight as a 36-year-old Romanian from Barking.

Sandel Serbu, who had recently moved to the UK, is believed to have been returning home from a night out when he was attacked in the early hours of Sunday morning.

He had just got out of a car when he was attacked by around five men wielding baseball bats just before 3am.

Sandel was rushed to hospital but died shortly afterwards.

A post mortem gave the cause of his death as blunt force trauma to the head.

Detectives believe the attack took place in front of drivers and passersby and are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

DCI Paul Considine, from the Met’s homicide and major crime command, is leading the investigation.

He said: “This was a brutal and prolonged attack on an individual by a group of up to five people.

“We know that those responsible for this deadly assault arrived at the location in two cars.

“There were a number of people, both in cars and pedestrians, who would have witnessed this attack. I need these people to come forward and tell me what they saw.

“I would also like to appeal to anyone who may have captured footage of the scene or the aftermath to contact police. Your footage may hold vital evidence.”

Anyone with video footage can send it to police by visiting ukpoliceimageappeal.com/upload/choose.

Witnesses should call detectives on 020 8345 3734 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday. He remains in custody.