A man has been found guilty of murder after battering a five-year-old boy to death in a Catford park for losing a trainer.

Marvyn Iheanacho, 39, flew into a rage and subjected his girlfriend's son Alex Malcolm to a brutal attack in Mountsfield Park.

Witnesses heard a child's fearful voice saying "sorry", loud banging and a man screaming about the loss of a shoe.

Alex suffered fatal head and stomach injuries and died in hospital two days later.

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Marvyn Iheanacho

One of his trainers was later found in the play area by police.

Iheanacho, who was in a relationship with Alex's mother Lilya Breha, was convicted of murder at Woolwich Crown Court.

The jury of seven men and five women returned a unanimous guilty verdict today (July 21).

Ms Breha nodded as the verdict was announced and quietly wept in court.

Iheanacho, of Wesley Avenue in Hounslow, has a string of previous convictions for violent offences, including attacks on ex-partners and robbery.

Judge Mark Dennis QC deferred sentence until Tuesday.

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Alex's lost shhoe in the park

Iheanacho, who was known to Alex as "Daddy Mills", admitted beating the boy before, in a note in his diary which read: "Do I really love Alex, five years old small cute lil boy.

"Who want nothing more, than daddy mills to love him protect him but most of all keep him from harm - even though I had to beat him just now for sicking up in the cab - why why why I say - so the answer is yes yes yes I love him and like with all my heart but may not enough."

Alex's head, neck, and body were covered with bruises after the attack on November 20 last year.

Iheanacho carried the unconscious boy to a minicab office and took him to Ms Breha's flat, while the nearest hospital was just a five-minute walk away.

Ms Breha has described how he then attacked her when she tried to call an ambulance.

She said she started screaming when she saw Alex was "unconscious and his face was disgusting".

She told the court that she kept on shouting at Iheanacho: "What have you done?"

Ms Breha said Iheanacho, whom she had started dating in June, and thought had been a good father figure to her son, hit her with the "hardest punch I had in my life".

She told the jury that he "tried to strangle me, pretty much his intention was to try kill me, is all I can say".

But she grabbed the phone after noticing her son was getting cold, his face had turned blue and he had stopped breathing.

Doctors at Lewisham Hospital tried to resuscitate Alex, but a CT scan revealed he was suffering from severe brain swelling, and he was transferred to King's College Hospital.

He was pronounced dead on November 22 after an unsuccessful operation.

Iheanacho gave several different accounts of how the horrific injuries were caused, including that Alex fell off a climbing frame, which were all rejected by the jury.

Ms Breha described being with her little boy as he lay in the hospital during his final moments alive.

She said in a statement: "Alex was so small but he was my strength and my purpose for living.

"The hardest thing I have ever had to hear was that my child died.

"I remember it like it was yesterday.

"Lying next to him in a hospital and praying that everything would be fine, that he will open his eyes.

"I didn't even get to tell him I love him.

"All I got was to put my hand on his chest and feel every single one of his final heartbeats."

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Lynes said: "Iheanacho subjected that poor little boy to a brutal assault after flying into an uncontrollable rage just because Alex lost one of his shoes.

"Afterwards Iheanacho came up with various stories to try to cover his tracks, insisted his girlfriend lie for him and attacked her when she tried to get medical help for her unconscious son.

"It is no surprise the jury easily saw through his stories and while nothing can bring Alex back, I hope Iheanacho's conviction today provides his mother and father and their families with some comfort."

Rob Davis, district crown prosecutor, CPS London Homicide, said: “Only Marvyn Iheanacho knows how Alex was fatally wounded but it is certain his anger boiled over at some point on that evening.

“The prosecution case was that a witness heard Iheanacho swearing at a child over a shoe that had been lost in the nearby park. He was heard repeatedly and violently punching a gate.

“Later in the park another witness saw Alex lying prone on a bench. CCTV showed Iheanacho carrying Alex’s body to a cab office.

“His actions that day tragically ended a young boy’s life, and deprived a mother of her son.

“His efforts to cover up what really happened, first to Alex’s mother by claiming Alex had simply fainted and hit his head, then by lying and repeatedly changing his story to police, show his greatest concern was for himself.

“Our thoughts go to Alex’s mother and family and we hope today’s conviction brings some sense of justice.”