Drug dealer murderer jailed for 17 years

A man who stabbed to death a fellow drug dealer and buried his body on the site of a new bypass has been jailed for more than 17 years.

St Albans Crown Court heard Zafar Khaliq, 43, of Wood Green, London, was killed after he called associate Wayne Grimes a "dirty smackhead".

Grimes, 36, of Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to the murder carried out on 10 July 2010.

He was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 17 years and 192 days.

The court heard Grimes worked with Khaliq from August 2009 but in the weeks before the murder, Khaliq, who did not take drugs, became concerned about Grimes' drug habit and demanded he clean himself up.

The court heard that while they were cutting up drugs in Grimes' flat they had become involved in an argument and Khaliq was attacked and killed.

Grimes wrapped the body in plastic bags and stored it under a bed at his flat, where his girlfriend Tina Howard noticed blood seeping out, the court heard.

Five days after the killing, the body was taken to the new A421 bypass in Bedfordshire where Kieran O'Brien, 29, of Peasecroft Road, Hemel Hempstead, who worked at the site, used a digger to dig a trench.

Khaliq was reported missing on 15 July. Police contacted his associates and Grimes was arrested.

O'Brien admitted his role and took officers to the grave.

He pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and obstructing the coroner at an earlier hearing and is due to be sentenced next week.