Man charged with murdering Czech businessman who was ‘chased down the street and beaten to death after chicken shop fight’

A MAN has been charged with murdering a Czech businessman who was reportedly chased down the street and beaten to death with a bike chain.

Raymond Sculley, 29, has been charged with killing Zdenek Makar, 31, in Poplar after an alleged fight in Perfect Friend Chicken.

Sculley, from Poplar, will appear in custody at Thames Magistrates' Court tomorrow following the murder on East India Dock Road last Wednesday.

A 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy who were also arrested on Friday have been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Both are due to return to an east London police station on dates in early October.

A dramatic picture yesterday emerged of the moment a cyclist battled to save the city worker's life after he was reportedly battered and left for dead.

Makar, 31, was walking home from drinks with friends when he was allegedly beaten to death with a metal chain.

He is thought to have got involved in a "trivial row" with a teen in a grey tracksuit while waiting for his meal at Perfect Fried Chicken in Poplar, East London.

As the smartly dressed worker left the shop he was chased 100 metres down the road by a gang of four youths riding BMX's.

Zdenek, who was wearing a grey suit and worked for an events and catering company, was found lying in a pool of blood on a footpath opposite All Saints DLR station.

A cyclist gave CPR to the victim but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.20am on Thursday.

Another passer-by watched in horror as he realised the victim was fighting for life.

A picture taken on a mobile phone and shared on Snapchat was captioned: “Allah hes not breathing.”

Devastated friends have taken to Facebook to pay tribute to Zdenek, originally from the Czech Republic and worked for Harbour & Jones in central London.

A close pal wrote: "This wasn't supposed to happen. I still can't believe it.

"A man with a huge heart, a whole life ahead of him.

"I will never forget you, you will stay forever in our hearts forever."

Another friend wrote online: "Losing a friend is always hard but like that is harder than ever.

"Never forgotten. You'll be truly missed."

Murder cops have launched a probe into the senseless attack and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

A worker at Perfect Fried Chicken said: “I don’t know what the argument was about but there was no pushing or shoving, no one threw a punch.

"They were swearing at each other but it was all over in about ten seconds.

“The boy, he was 16 or 17, went and told his friends outside who were on BMX bikes.

“One of them who was older came in and put his arm around the man in the suit and said ‘you shouldn’t have spoken to him like that'.

“The guy held up his arms as if to say I’m sorry and that was that.

"There didn’t seem to be any animosity.

“They both took their food outside and that was it.

"Ten minutes later we saw all the police and ambulance turn up.

“The police came in later and asked to see the CCTV and they said they think he was killed over what happened in the shop.

“I can’t believe it. It’s shocking. It was just a silly exchange of words. You get it sometimes but it’s unbelievable it can end like this and life can be so cheap.

“The guy was clearly a businessman as he was wearing a very sharp grey suit. He was in a good mood. He said he’d been at a drinks party after work and was going home."

Another shopkeeper saw the victim lying on the pavement.

He said: “There was cyclist with a beard who had blood over his face from him trying to resuscitate the man by giving him mouth to mouth.

“I was told he had been badly beaten and there was huge wound to the back of his head.”

The A13 East India Dock Road was shut down between Cotton Street and Chrisp Street while police investigated.