Islington Tribune - News: Life sentance

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Islington Tribune - by DAVID ST GEORGE
Published: 14 September 2007

Life sentence for lodger from hell

A “LODGER from hell” who tortured his vulnerable landlord for months and then killed him has begun a life sentence.
The victim, Stephen Chappell, predicted his own vicious end in a series of notes he penned in his flat in Holloway.
Mr Chappell wrote about his fears of constant beatings by “mad” Abdelwhab Nefzi.
Nefzi, 46, confessed to a fatal attack on him when he stood in the dock at Snaresbrook Crown Court. His case had been transferred from the Old Bailey.
The jobless Tunisian tried to cover up this crime by telling paramedics and police that Mr Chappell had suffered a vicious beating by muggers in a park.
Judge David Radford jailed him for life for murder and said he must serve a minimum 17 years before he can even apply for parole.
The judge described the slow, agonising death of the victim as “a savage, sustained, multi-blow beating over a long period.”
He said the cold-hearted killer was “indifferent” as to whether Mr Chappell would die or not.
Mr Chappell, 51, had a third floor one bedroom council flat at Leith House, Hilldrop Road.
Ambulancemen called by Nefzi in June last year found that he was dead after suffering multiple injuries to the head, stomach and chest.
Police discovered Mr Chappell’s bloodsoaked clothes in a rubbish bin.
Both men are understood to have been heavy drinkers. They shared accommodation for three years and there were often violent flare ups.
Prosecutor Simon Denison described the killing as “a sustained, brutal and merciless attack.”
Nefzi knew that the victim was in agony but cruelly left him to die on the floor rather than get help.
Detectives found Mr Chappell’s notes about the treatment he received from Nefzi.
In one, dated March of last year, he said: “At the moment... I am covered in bruises and cuts. It happens every weekend.
“I am here waiting, not knowing what is going to happen next.
“The lodger is mad. My cupboard and walls have been covered in blood.”

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