'The Magician' guilty of murdering drug dealer and hiding his body in loft for eight months
Gary Hopkins was caught after threatening to kill another drug dealer, telling friends: "I've done it before. He's in the loft."
Friday 29 March 2019 05:37, UK
A window cleaner has been found guilty of murdering a teenage drug dealer and hiding his body in his loft for eight months.
Gary Hopkins hacked 17-year-old Abdi Ali to death at the home he shared with his partner Stacy Docherty, 28, and their three children in Enfield, north London, in December 2017.
Hopkins, nicknamed The Magician, was eventually caught after threatening to kill another drug dealer, telling friends: "I've done it before. He's in the loft."
Mr Ali, who was linked to the Get Money Gang (GMG), was hit over the head with a claw hammer and repeatedly stabbed with a 16cm knife.
Hopkins tried to blame his murder on a senior member of the GMG.
The 37-year-old, known for performing magic tricks, wrapped the teenager in a duvet cover and hid him in the loft with the murder weapons.
With about £400 he had taken from Mr Ali's body, Hopkins then took his family to Leominster in Herefordshire, where he laid low for a while.
Docherty, who was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter, said she "froze" and was "petrified" when Hopkins told her he "lost it" and they had to leave.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, she said: "He had blood on him. I didn't want to look. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"I was in shock. I was thinking, 'oh my God, my children are in the next room'."
Docherty then helped Hopkins push the body into the loft. Explaining why she did that, she said: "He could have hurt me. He had just killed someone. He's a loose cannon."
The prosecution has been given seven days to decide whether to seek a retrial for Docherty.
After telling friends last August that he had killed a drug dealer before, Hopkins encouraged them to look for themselves, jurors heard.
When police subsequently searched the roof space, they found Mr Ali's body wrapped in a black and red duvet cover with plastic bags over his head.
The body was badly decomposed and infested with insects, Gareth Patterson QC told the court.
Hopkins, who was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking in 1999, admitted perverting the course of justice and preventing the lawful burial of a body.
The jury was unable to reach verdicts regarding Docherty on those charges.
Mr Ali's sister Kowsar said he was a "very respectful, helpful son" who was particularly close to his late grandmother. .
Speaking outside court on behalf of his mother, she said: "I am aware that Abdi had trouble with police before but as a family we were hoping that he would change since he was still very young.
"However, he does not have that opportunity now."