Two men have been convicted of the murder of a homeless man in Lambeth.

The body of Mauricio Nascimento, 44, was found in Rush Common on July 12, 2021.

Mauricio suffered extensive injuries from a brutal attack, including a broken nose, fractured skull, and neck and almost all of his ribs were broken.

Police launched a murder investigation at the time of the crime but there were no obvious leads as to who was responsible for the attack.

Forensic tests carried out on a belt found left at the scene, and on Maurice's unbuttoned shirt, revealed full DNA matches to Arturas Ptickinas, 29 of Norwood High Street.

Police say the chances of it coming from anyone else were rated as “one in a billion” - the highest match on the scientific scale.

Arturas’s DNA was also matched to Maurice's wrists, implying he had been involved in dragging his body into bushes.

The tests also located DNA on other parts of Maurice's body, including his face and on his neck, where he had been hit by his attackers, however it was not sensitive enough to produce a clear enough result.

A more specialist test was then carried out, and it showed DNA from three people - Mauricio, Arturas and a third man, Ernestas Aleksandrovas, 29, of Norwood High Street.

The DNA matches and CCTV footage which tracked the pair leaving their home and heading towards Rush Common helped build the case against Arturas and Ernestas, police say.

Ernestas was also linked to the crime scene as his phone was used at 3.16am on the night of the murder and it connected to a telephone mast next to Rush Common.

Both defendants appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Friday (January 20) where, following the trial, Arturas Ptickinas was convicted of murder.

Ernestas Aleksandrovas was convicted of murder and perverting the course of justice.

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, the officer in the case, said: "This case demonstrated how the Met combines forensic expertise with the investigative skills of our homicide detectives to solve murders.

"We will never know exactly what happened in the moments before Maurice Nascimento's death, but, we do know that the attack on him was brutal, merciless and completely unjustified.

"I'm glad the two defendants have now been found guilty and will be off the streets of London for a long time."

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Advanced techniques used by Met forensic scientists to capture DNA have been credited with the identification and conviction of two men for the murder of a homeless man in Lambeth.

“The body of Mauricio 'Maurice' Nascimento, aged 44, was found in Rush Common, SW2, on 12 July 2021.

“Maurice had suffered extensive injuries from a brutal attack, including a broken nose, fractured skull and neck and almost all of his ribs were broken.

“A murder investigation was launched and a crime scene was put in place.

“However, there were no obvious leads as to who was responsible for the fatal attack.

“Forensic tests carried out on a belt found discarded at the scene, and Maurice's unbuttoned shirt, revealed full DNA matches to Arturas Ptickinas, 29 (01.03.93) of Norwood High Street, SE27.

“In fact, the chances of it coming from anyone else were rated as one in a billion - the highest match on the scientific scale.

“Ptickinas' DNA was also matched to Maurice's wrists, indicating he had been involved in dragging his body into bushes.

“Forensic tests also showed the presence of DNA on other parts of Maurice's body, including his face and on his neck, where he had been hit by his attackers.

“But, the standard DNA test wasn’t sensitive enough to produce a clear enough result to allow DNA comparisons to be made.

“So a more specialist test was carried out, and what it showed was that DNA from three people was present - Maurice, Ptickinas and a third man, identified as Ernestas Aleksandrovas, 29 (04.11.92) of Norwood High Street, SE27.

“Forensic tests on the fingers and palm of Mr Nascimento’s right hand was found to match Mr Aleksnadrovas’s DNA – and the chances of it not being his has been calculated as one in a billion.

“The DNA matches, coupled with analysis of CCTV footage, which tracked the pair leaving their home address and heading towards the Rush Common area when the murder is believed to have be carried out, helped build the case against Ptickinas and Aleksandrovas.

“Aleksandrovas was also linked to the crime scene as his mobile phone was used at 03.16hrs on the night of the murder and it connected to a telephone mast next to Rush Common.

“Both defendants appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 20 January where, following trial, Arturas Ptickinas was convicted of murder and Ernestas Aleksandrovas was convicted of murder and perverting the course of justice.”