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A “dangerous” labourer who murdered a “vulnerable” young man and dumped his dismembered body parts in bin bags in a park has been jailed for at least 27 years.
Dajour Jones, 27, subjected 20-year-old Jamie Gilbey to a “sustained and vicious” attack before cutting up his body and distributing the remains in undergrowth at South Norwood Lake and Grounds in south London.
Sentencing him to life in his absence after Jones refused to attend the hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday, Judge Nigel Lickley KC described him as a “violent and dangerous individual”.
Judge Lickley said: “Jamie was in the prime of his life and had his entire life ahead of him. You took that away.”
Mr Gilbey was last seen alive going into Jones’s room at a hostel where they both lived in Upper Norwood on the evening of 27 January 2022.
Prosecutor Simon Denison KC previously told jurors: “The defendant murdered him there in a brutal, sustained, and particularly disturbing attack.”
Mr Gilbey’s mother Charlene Baxter told the court about the impact the murder of her eldest son has had on her family.
“My sons often ask if the bad man is coming,” she told the court.
Ms Baxter said her son “loved playing jokes on people” and was “always happy, laughing and joking”.
A jury found Jones guilty of Mr Gilbey’s murder on Thursday, 5 December after a nine-week trial. Jones had refused to attend court by videolink from Belmarsh jail.
During the trial, jurors were told it was a “deeply disturbing” case in which the victim was a “defenceless” man.
Jones claimed he hit the victim with a broom in self-defence after Mr Gilbey confronted him with a knife and stole his phone.
Mr Denison had told jurors: “The defendant inflicted the severe head injuries when Jamie was alive; he inflicted stab wounds when he was alive, but not wearing his clothing, and he inflicted stab wounds when Jamie was dead and not wearing his clothing.”
The day after the killing, Jones acquired a large purple suitcase that he took back to his room.
Jones kept the body parts in a crate and disposed of them in two trips to Cantley Gardens, in South Norwood Lake and Grounds, using the suitcase. He took the head, torso and arms in one trip, and the legs in the other, jurors heard.
In a third trip, Jones deposited the suitcase containing clothing and bedding which was heavily blood-stained at Love Lane Green in South Norwood.
Mr Denison previously said Mr Gilbey was an “innocent victim” who had been “too trusting” and “too eager to please”.
Mr Gilbey, who had learning difficulties, had been on bail for an attempted robbery but otherwise had no convictions, warnings or reprimands, police said.
Having “calmly disposed of the body”, Jones also carried out a clean-up operation in his room and seemed “extraordinarily relaxed and cheerful”, the court heard.
He was arrested on 3 March 2022, five days before Mr Gilbey’s body was found by police in undergrowth.
When he was charged the next day, his response was “Alright. Cool”, Judge Lickley KC said.
During his evidence, Jones denied he dismembered Mr Gilbey’s body, claiming he took it away from the hostel in one trip and handed it to three people to dispose of.
Jones, of no fixed address, has a history of violence and had admitted a glass attack on a member of staff at a cycling shop in London Bridge, the court was told.
He had been released from prison on licence before the murder.
Jones will serve a minimum of 24 years and 353 days, taking into account the two years and 12 days he has already been in custody.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Nolan, who led the murder investigation, said: “My thoughts go out to the family of Jamie – who lost his life in truly horrendous circumstances.
“For reasons known only to Jones, on the evening of the murder, he lured Jamie to his room intending to kill him or cause really serious harm. He then subjected Jamie to an extremely violent and sustained attack. Afterwards he dismembered Jamie’s body and disposed of it over a number of days.
“What is particularly chilling is that throughout this time he conducted himself in an entirely relaxed manner. Something had clearly been brewing in Jones’ mind as he had earlier that day asked staff at the accommodation what would happen were he to have a fight inside his room and whether the circumstances would be looked into. This suggests some element of pre-mediation and planning.”
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