A Croydon man has been found guilty of killing a fitness fanatic who was battered to death with a barbell for his Rolex watch.

Drug dealer Paul Tong, 54, known as Yankee, was attacked with an exercise weight in Ealing, on April 19, 2017.

His body was found the next day partially covered by bedding at a "contorted and unnatural angle" and his room had been ransacked, jurors were told.

Criminology Masters degree student Aliysa Ellis, a bipolar friend of Mr Tong, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.

Christopher McDonald, from Croydon and who gained a first class degree in psychology, had been on a life licence at the time of the killing, having previously been convicted of wounding with intent and conspiracy to steal from a Matalan store in Luton.

He was found guilty of Mr Tong's murder and conspiracy to rob following a retrial at the Old Bailey.

The court heard heard how Mr Tong would often leave drugs and cash lying around his room and it was rumoured he had substantial amounts of money.

Prosecutor Jake Hallam QC had said: "The state of the room suggests that Mr Tong was killed by people who were seeking to find and take his money, his drugs and his valuables.

"He was known to have various expensive-looking watches, for example.

"When the police searched the room after his death neither money, nor valuables, nor drugs were found."

Mr Tong's cousin had described seeing him with a "flash watch" and his former partner told police he kept watches, including a Rolex, designer clothes and jewellery, at the home he shared with an elderly aunt.

All that remained in the father-of-one's bedroom was an empty Rolex box with Ellis's fingerprint inside it, the court was told.

A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Tong, who was of "muscular build", had cuts and bruises on his head and body, broken ribs and a ruptured liver from "blunt impacts".

The dimensions and weight of the exercise bar found behind a door suggested it could have been used to cause the injuries, the court heard.

McDonald, 34, and Ellis, 30, had denied being involved in the fatal attack.

McDonald told jurors he had never gone into the victim's house.

Jurors were told McDonald had been jailed for life with a minimum term of six years in 2008 after admitting an attack on a man involving a bar, Taser and knife in November 2007.

He went on to admit conspiring to steal £15,000 from the safe at a Matalan store in Luton in August 2007 and was eventually released on licence in 2014.

Ellis admitted visiting Mr Tong to buy drugs and claimed her co-accused had also gone into the house to purchase some too.

Ellis, who is in a psychiatric hospital, was tearful as she was convicted of manslaughter and there was a gasp in the public gallery as McDonald was found guilty of murder.

The court heard McDonald now faces a life sentence with a starting point of 30 years for the "murder for gain".

The pair were remanded in custody to be sentenced on April 3.