THAT’S MY SON
Mum’s horror at seeing body of hero killed standing up to drug dealers It breaks my heart. I can never be happy about anything now
A GRIEVING mother has relived the heartbreaking moment she saw her bludgeoned son dying in a pool of blood.
Brave Ian Tomlin had stood up to drug pushers preying on his council estate and paid with his life.
Monica Tomlin, 82, speaking for the first time since the 46 year old’s killers have been jailed, has opened her heart to the Sunday People.
Many hope the death of have-ago- hero Ian, who worked as a binman, will lead to change on the estate. But Monica will never get over her boy’s terrible fate.
She said: “Losing Ian has left a hole in my heart that can never be filled.” She vividly recalls the day in October last year when her life was torn apart.
She said: “We heard a helicopter and I instinctively knew something was wrong. I tried calling Ian but there was no answer. I hurried down the corridor to Ian’s flat. There is a glass door, which was shut but inside, to my horror, I could see Ian on the floor surrounded by police. It was all cordoned off.
“‘That’s my son’ I said, as I burst into tears. I couldn’t bear what I was seeing and hurried back home.
“That is something no mother should ever have to see.”
Neighbour Gary Beech, 48, and Michael Swan, 45, stabbed amateur boxer Ian in the neck and beat him over the head with a baseball bat so hard that it split. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
There had been “a history of tension” between dad-of-two Ian and the pair on Doddington Estate, Battersea, South London.
Beech, who had known Ian since childhood childhood, dealt class A drugs from his flat oppo opposite the victim’s. Swan, described as S a serious crack and h heroin addict, was also involved in drug dealing and a regular visitor t to the block.
They were th thought to have de dealt from CCTV blin blind spots on the estate. The Their brutal attack was recorded on CCTV yet both claimed self-defence.
Swan was jailed for a minimum of 21 years and Beech has to serve at least 19 years.
Old Bailey judge Rebecca Poulet QC described it as “sustained and gratuitous violence” and said Ian died “trying to combat serious antisocial behaviour in his block.”
Ian stood up to the pushers after he saw kids spiralling into addiction. His murder comes amid growing claims the Government has lost control of our streets as surging demand for drugs fuels a rapid rise in knife crime.
Office for National Statistics figures show mur murder d e r and
manslaughter cases, excluding terror error attacks, increased from 655 in 2017 to 732 last year.
Ian’s niece, Keisha Tomlin, 30, said: d: “The estate I grew up on will never feel like home again. Ian stood up for local people who ho are scared. They said id his was a hero’s death. th.
“A councillor said aid he hoped Ian’s passing ssing will leave a legacy cy of change there.
“All my uncle nc l e wanted was to live ve in a nice community, , free f r om drugs and violence, where e our children would be e safe.”
I an was one ne of
Monica’s seven children.
She said: “Our family amily was broken. Months passed in a blur. Ian was the most amazing son. He spent his life looking out for others. thers.
“Every time I go into the church now all I see ee is Ian’s coffin and all I can remember ember are Ian’s bright eyes looking ng at me.
“It breaks my heart heart. I can never be happy about anything now. I feel guilty if I laugh about anything.”
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