Three men appeared at Sutton Magistrates on Wednesday in connection with the death of a Croydon businessman.

Mahesh Mehta, 55, was walking along Warwick Road on October 19 last year, when he was attacked from behind by two men and subjected to a violent robbery.

Just prior to the attack, Mr Mehta had visited the HSBC bank on the corner of London Road and Warwick Road.

He was taken by the London Ambulance Service to the Mayday Hospital with severe facial injuries after the attack.

Mr Mehta was then re-admitted to undergo surgery to a broken eye-socket and a broken nose but died during surgery on Friday November 13 at St Georges Hospital, Tooting.

Mr Mehta’s nephew, Sagar Mehta, 23, described him as a “very family orientated man.”

He said: “He would always go out of his way to help people in need.

“When he lived with his mother he would always take her and her friends food shopping, and if he was ever out and about and saw them he would pick them up and drop them home. “ Mr Mehta came to the UK when he was a teenager to build the foundations for his family to come and join him.

He was due to return to India for the first time in 30 years for his nephew’s wedding just weeks after the attack.

A post-mortem examination was held at Croydon Mortuary on Saturday, November 14 and the cause of death was determined as fluid on the lungs following surgery on his fractured nose.

Lewis Boakye, 23, of Newlands Rd, Thornton Heath, Ryan Williams, 25, of St Edwards Close, New Addington and Michah Rogers-Wright, 24, of no fixed address have been charged with with conspiracy to rob and grievous bodily harm with intent.

The three men are due to appear at Kingston Crown Court on March 23 .