A man stabbed to death in a home for vulnerable people has been described as a shy and quiet father of two.

Robert Lewis, 49, was murdered at a property in Cheam Road on May 4. His killer, Adrian Johnson, 27, was a schizophrenic living at the same property, who later hanged himself in his prison cell.

Wendy Wood, Mr Lewis’s aunt, said her nephew was a shy, quiet person who liked his own space.

He also had three brothers David, 47, who lives in Hackbridge, Geoff, 51, who lives in Beddington and Garry, 52, who lives in Swansea.

Mr Lewis had lived at the property in Cheam Road since August. Before that he lived in a bedsit in Wimbledon and before that he lived on the Roundshaw Estate.

He had suffered from epilepsy since he was a child, which was so severe he had been unable to work.

Mrs Wood said: “He had a few nasty falls and sometimes he ended up in hospital.

“Normally he would just lie down on the floor because he knew it was coming.

“He loved computers but he couldn’t use them because they would bring on fits. This was his life.”

She said Mr Lewis had not lived at the Cheam Road address for very long and she could not understand why he was put there.

Referring to Mr Johnson she said: “These people should be somewhere there is a warden to make sure they take their medications.

“It is a terrible thing to think two young lives have been taken. It is a terrible tragedy.

“My sister is in agony and will never get over it. It is affecting her health. She is getting panic attacks and heart palpitations.”

Mr Lewis’s brother, David, 47, said: “He was a normal guy. He had epilepsy so he kept himself to himself. He didn’t have a lot of friends but we have a very close knit family.

“He wouldn’t hurt a fly, he could have only weighed about 7 stone.

“Mum and dad have taken it very badly – you don’t want your children to die before you.

“The rest of us are just coping and getting by.

“They still haven’t released his body, so we can’t lay him to rest. We hope he will be released this week.”

Friends of Mr Lewis also came forward to pay tribute.

One said: "I used to know him from the pub. He was a lovely fella, so quiet and he never offended anyone. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the newspaper.

"He was divorced I think, with two grown-up children.

"He used to live on the Roundshaw estate but he became homeless and went into a bed and breakfast in Wallington.

"Then he moved into the hostel and was waiting to be rehoused in Sutton.

"I saw him about a month before this happened and he said it was nice and quiet there."

David Lewis said his brother had been beaten as well as stabbed.

"I know they said the other guy wasn’t violent but to beat someone that much there must be something there," he said.

"We feel he got the coward’s way out by taking his own life because he couldn’t face up to what he had done.

"We have got some anger but we are not letting it show.

"We are not that sort of family."