Man appears in court of accused of murdering ‘inspirational’ care worker at London landmark

A MAN has appeared in court charged with murder after an "inspirational" care worker was found dead under a tree in Hyde Park, London.

Hani Khalaf, 21, an Egyptian national of no fixed address, is accused of killing Jairo Medina, 62, as police investigate if it was a gay hate attack.

Mr Medina, a professional carer from Chelsea, was the victim of an assault, but a post-mortem examination did not ascertain a cause of death.

Officers were called to the park at around 5.50am on August 12 after a member of the public discovered a man with injuries close to Speakers' Corner.

He was dead when officers arrived.

Khalaf was unshaven and wore a grey prison-issue tracksuit when he appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Saturday, and spoke through an interpreter to confirm his name and date of birth.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

Jairo’s friends and neighbours have paid tribute to an “inspirational care worker with a heart of gold”.

His heartbroken housemate, who he had lived with for 11 years, told the Evening Standard: “At the moment we don’t know anything at all about how he met his death.

“All we know is that his body was found in Hyde Park and he had injuries.

"Basically someone had beaten him up and he was left with these severe injuries.”

He added: “I have been with the detectives ever since trying to figure out what happened.”

Around 30 officers attended the scene with a huge cordon place after Jairo’s body was found on Friday.

A Met spokesman said: “We are keeping an open mind about the motive of this crime.”

Detectives from the homicide and major crime command have appealed for anyone with information about Jairo’s whereabouts in the house leading up to his death.