Gary Hopkins, 37, (pictured) killed Abdi Ali, 17, as the teenager slept on the sofa at the flat he shared with 28-year-old Stacy Docherty in Enfield, north London
An amateur magician who murdered his drug dealer and showed his body off to friends after leaving it in his attic for eight months was jailed for at least 22 years.
Gary Hopkins, 37, killed Abdi Ali , 17, as the teenager slept on the sofa at the flat he shared with 28-year-old Stacy Docherty in Enfield, north London.
Hopkins battered and stabbed Ali to death then wrapped the body in a duvet, put plastic bags over his bloodied head and fashioned a noose out of cables to hoist his body up into the loft.
Ali was a 'cuckoo' - a dealer who had taken up residence in their home to sell heroin.
Days after the murder in December 2017 the pair fled to Leominster, Herefordshire, where Hopkins was spotted waving 'a big wad of cash' after rifling Abdi's pockets and stealing up to £400.
Despite his family desperately searching for him, the teenager's decomposing corpse lay undiscovered until the following summer when a friend of the couple tipped off detectives.
Stacie Collard had been invited to have a look at the body but lost her nerve as she climbed the loft ladder and went to the police.
Hopkins denied murder but he was convicted by a jury following a four-week trial.
Docherty, who appeared in court sporting cornrows and wearing a large pink crucifix, had wept as she was cleared of murder and manslaughter.
But she later admitted perverting the course of justice after she helped hide the body for eight months and clean up bloodstains.
She was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment and ordered to complete a rehabilitation programme when released on licence.
Ali's mother, Mrs Iisha Abdullahi, said in a witness impact statement read to the court:
'Ali was a good and funny son, all of his other siblings, nieces and nephews liked him.'
Ali, pictured, was a 'cuckoo' - a dealer who had taken up residence in their home to sell heroin
Mrs Abdullahi revealed she had come to the UK in 2004, seeking asylum from Somalia for Ali and his eight siblings.
'I and my family fled from Somalia and we came to this country for safety but what these people did to my family and to Ali we can never forget.'
'I cannot understand why somebody would do such a thing to another human being. I will always love my son and I cannot believe I will never see him again.'
The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hillard QC, said: 'All human life is precious and not only have his family tried to cope with his murder but they also had to endure eight months without knowing what happened to him.
'No sentence I impose can bring him back or make up for what you, Mr Hopkins, did.
'You launched a ferocious attack on Abdi Ali. Afterwards you stole money and drugs from him.'
Appearing via video link from Wormwood Scrubs prison, Hopkins showed no emotion as he was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 18 years before he can be considered for parole.
Stacy Docherty (pictured) said Ali was killed because 'she had a debt of £60 to a guy and hadn't bought Christmas presents for the children'
Earlier prosecutor Gareth Patterson QC told jurors: 'Having killed Mr Ali, they then wrapped up his body inside a duvet cover.
'They hid it in their attic along with the murder weapons; a claw hammer and a knife.
'The family of the teenager reported him missing. The police tried in vain to find him.
'Meanwhile, as the months passed by, these defendants kept the body of Abdi Ali hidden away up in their attic above where they lived.
'It began to decompose through the spring and summer months and about eight months went by before it was finally discovered; by that stage having suffered serious decomposition and become infested with insects and the like.'
Ms Collard was a friend of Doherty's and she went to the flat with Liana Keenan and Ms Keenan's boyfriend Kamil Mikolajczyk.
Hopkins, who worked as a window cleaner, boasted about killing Ali but Ms Collard thought he was joking.
She told jurors: 'I didn't believe him at this point. His way of trying to reassure me was him saying that he will ask Stacy about the attic in front of me and then just watch her face.'
When they got back, Hopkins pointed up to the loft and told Docherty: 'I've told them about the guy in the attic.'
Despite his family desperately searching for him, the teenager's decomposing corpse lay undiscovered until the following summer when a friend of the couple tipped off detectives. Stacie Collard had been invited to have a look at the body but lost her nerve as she climbed the loft ladder (pictured) and went to the police
'That was it,' Ms Collard said: 'She completely broke down.'
She said Hopkins seemed 'excited', 'especially in the way that he told Stacy and pointing to the loft'.
'I said 'Okay then, if it's true then I want to see'.
Hopkins went and got a ladder from outside and propped it up to the attic.
Ms Collard said: 'Gary was like 'Go on then, go'.
'I went maybe two or three steps up the ladder and thought to myself if this is true then I'm not going to un-see what I see, so I came back down.
'I had a complete freak out and couldn't go up, so I encouraged Kamil to go up instead.'
She added: 'When he came down, I asked him if there was anything up there.
'He was very pale and just shook his head yes.'
Ms Collard added that Docherty later said Ali was killed because 'she had a debt of £60 to a guy and hadn't bought Christmas presents for the children'.
Ali had suffered three hammer blows to the top of his head, at least 11 stab wounds to the upper-left side of his chest and at least seven knife wounds to the back of his left neck among other possible injuries.
'That's why I believe it was done,' she added.
'She said she felt as
