A 37-year-old man has admitted killing a homeless man from Dagenham who firefighters discovered lying next to a burnt out car.
Hassaman Ettakkal, 54, was found dead, wearing nothing but his boxers in an Ilford car park early on May 29.
Today Adil Mahmood, of London Road, Mitcham, pleaded guilty to arson and manslaughter at the Old Bailey, which the prosecution accepted.
The court heard how firefighters responding to reports of a car ablaze at around 5.45am in Castleford Road discovered Hassaman’s body five feet from an alight black BMW 1 Series.
He had no burns and appeared to have been dragged from the vehicle before the fire.
A post-mortem exam gave the cause of death as “blunt force trauma” which ruptured his spleen.
The Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance Service raced to the scene after a call from attending Fire Brigade crew and the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command is investigating.
The burnt-out BMW had false license plates and had been used by “rough sleepers and drug addicts”, police said.
Mahmood, they added, was identified as a suspect a week later after extensive enquiries and analysis of CCTV records.
The motive for the attack, however, remains unknown.
On June 6, Mahmood was charged with murder and arson with intent to endanger life. He was held in custody to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court later that day.
“This was a very detailed investigation that required many tireless hours of detailed CCTV research. It was as a result of these extensive enquires that Adil Mahmood was indentified as a suspect,” said investigation lead DS Michael Dougall.
“I would like to thank the local community for their patience and resilience whilst lengthy crime scene examinations took place.
“By Mahmood pleading guilty today, he has accepted full responsibility for this terrible act and he will now face the consequences.
“I hope this conviction will bring some solace and closure for Mr Ettakkal’s family.”
Mahmood was remanded for psychiatric reports with a provisional date for sentencing on January 8.
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