Man jailed over canal body parts

Marvin Gentles was attacked after tracking El-Gharras down

A man who stabbed a drug dealer to death before cutting his body into 133 pieces and dumping it in a canal, has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey.

Marvin Gentles, of north-west London gave Abdul El-Gharras, 31, some crack to sell, but instead he smoked it.

Mr Gentles, 28, was attacked after tracking El-Gharras down at his flat in Lisson Grove, central London.

El-Gharras admitted murdering Mr Gentles and the judge ordered he must serve at least 18 years.

Mr Gentles's torso was discovered in Regents Canal after a passer-by picked a shopping bag out of the water thinking somebody had dumped unwanted pets.

Another bag of body parts was found near a shopping trolley and police divers found Mr Gentles's head in a holdall that had been weighed down at the bottom of the canal. His arms and legs have never been discovered.

This was a dreadful deed Mrs Justice Rafferty

The prosecution said Mr Gentles suffered 26 stab wounds and cuts - some of them while he was still alive.

El-Gharras used a saw to cut up the body, and when he could not clean the blood from his flat he set it on fire, causing an explosion.

A statement read to the court from the victim's sister said: "That he (Mr Gentles) might have still been alive when he was cut up, haunts me."

Mrs Justice Rafferty told El-Gharras: "Whether she be right or wrong, you are responsible for these nightmares. This was a dreadful deed."