Mitcham murder: Street thug facing life in jail for killing rival gangster with axe in supermarket car park

The scene at the car park after the brawl
@MrDrem/Twitter
Jonathan Mitchell13 June 2017
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A street thug is facing life in jail after he hacked a rival gangster to death with an axe in a supermarket car park.

Prashad Sothalingam had been at a birthday party on the fifth floor of a Morrisons car park in Mitcham, south west London, when a mass brawl broke out between rival gangs.

The 26-year-old was one of several young men who attacked another group with an array of weapons including swords and hatchets on the evening of November 23, 2015,

Neel Croos, also 26, was killed in the brawl by Sothalingam and a number of others badly hurt, at trial at the Old Bailey heard.

One man had his fingers cut off with a machete while another suffered a fractured skull from an axe blow.

Following a retrial at the Old Bailey, Sothalingam, nicknamed Bullet, was found guilty of murder and wounding with intent, having previously been convicted of violent disorder.

Sugan Selvarajan was cleared of murder but found guilty of wounding with intent and violent disorder.

Sivakaran Ockersz and Visuparathan Dayaparan were convicted of violent disorder.

The men were remanded in custody to be sentenced by Judge John Bevan QC on Wednesday.

The court had heard the killing was the result of a "power struggle" within the Tooting Boys gang between the Elders and Sothalingam's group, the Youngers.

The victim's group, also armed, had been hunted down by Sothalingam's group after they arrived at the Sibthorpe Road car park.

One witness described someone shout aggressively "I am going to f*** you up" and "We run this" as bottles were thrown.

He also heard someone say in Tamil "There they are ... go get them", jurors were told.

He saw Sothalingam, who he had previously played football with, swinging the axe at the victim, hitting him in the head.

He ducked out of the way as the axe was swung at him too, jurors were told.

The witness also identified a number of the other men carrying a sword, metal poles and socks stuffed with snooker balls or stones.

Sothalingam, from Mitcham; Ockersz aka Siva, 19, of Wallington; Selvarajan, 33, of Mitcham; and Dayaparan aka Visu, 24, of Mitcham, had denied the charges.

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