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A man has been charged with the murder of Ranjith Kankanamalage, the 50-year-old man found dead in Tower Hamlets Cemetery, Mile End, last year.

Eric Field, 36, was arrested by police investigating the death on August 20, 2021. He was subsequently bailed and re-arrested last Friday morning.

The unresponsive body of Kankanamalage, who was known as ‘Roy’ by friends and family, was discovered on the morning of August 16 with a head injury. Police and ambulance services arrived at 7am and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The post-mortem determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Command have been investigating the incident as a suspected homophobic hate crime.

Field appeared in custody at Thames Magistrates Court on Saturday.

He is due to appear at the Old Bailey tomorrow, January 25.