Three men have been convicted at the Old Bailey of offences relating to the death of Newham father-of-four Sellathurai Easwaran.

Giovanni Castro, 20, of Keppel Road , East Ham, was found guilty of manslaughter and robbery.

Daniel Torres, 19, of Percy Road, Canning Town, and Christian Bustillos, 23, of Khartoum Road, Plaistow, were both found guilty of robbery.

The three men are due to be sentenced on July 1.

Det Ch Insp John Macdonald, of the Metropolitan Police Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: “Castro, Bustillos and Torres waited outside the convenience store where Castro identified Mr Easwaran as someone who was the worse for wear through drink.

“He targeted him as his robbery victim due to his inability to defend himself.

“Castro punched him to the floor, which was the trigger for all three to rifle through his pockets while their victim lay helpless on the ground.”

On Sunday, November 7, at about 11.20am, police had been called by the ambulance service to 40-year-old Mr Easwaran’s home in St Winefride’s Avenue, Manor Park. Officers found him dead in bed.

Enquiries led police to believe that the victim had been assaulted outside Akgul Foodstores, a 24-hour shop in Barking Road, East Ham, some time around 2.30am the day before,

Police who were passing the shop during a routine patrol had spotted the victim lying on the ground and taken him to an east London hospital.

Mr Easwaran left hospital later that morning and subsequently went home where he died.

A post-mortem examination held at Walthamstow mortuary on Monday, 8 November, 2010, confirmed that the assault had led to Mr Easwaran’s death by triggering a pre-existing medical condition.

Enquiries led police to Castro, Bustillos and Torres and officers arrested them on November 10.

Police later recovered Mr Easwaran’s mobile.

During the trial, Castro admitted that he had stolen the phone and then disposed of it.