A drug dealer who battered and strangled a father-of-two during a burglary has been jailed for life. Kenneth Osei-Bonsu, of Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham, left the body of former market trader Gary Painter, 39, beneath a pile of pornographic magazines in his

A drug dealer who battered and strangled a father-of-two during a burglary has been jailed for life.

Kenneth Osei-Bonsu, of Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham, left the body of former market trader Gary Painter, 39, beneath a pile of pornographic magazines in his bathroom.

The body was not discovered for another three days and CCTV footage only revealed a black figure leaving the flat carrying a full bin bag.

But a one-in-a-billion DNA match linked Osei-Bonsu, 35, to a bottle of Evian mineral water found in the lounge of the flat in Salop Road, Walthamstow.

Osei-Bonsu was convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury after only two hours deliberation. It followed a trial in February which ended in jury deadlock.

Judge Gerald Gordon told Osei-Bonsu he would spend at least 26 years behind bars before being considered for parole.

"Having seen the photographs of the state of the premises as well as the CCTV of you leaving with a full plastic binliner over your shoulder I have no doubt that the killing did occur in the course of burglary," he added.

"In the light of your silence much may never be known of the precise circumstances of what happened.

"But it is clear you attacked him in a very brutal fashion causing head injuries from which he would have died had he not have been strangled.

"As a result of your actions two children have lost their father. The sentence for murder is one of life imprisonment.!

The Old Bailey heard how four hours after the killing a friend of Osei-Bonsu, David Tolladay, dialled 999 to give police a tip-off.

But somehow the wrong number of the house was recorded and police went round to 30 Salop Road instead of 13 Salop Road.

It was only on June 8, 2006, - three days after neighbours had heard 'moaning and dragging' - that Mr Painter's ex-partner Kelly Thake found the body.

Mr Hilton said: "In the bathroom he was lying on his back. There was a towel and some adult magazines were strewn around him and several other items.

"The post-mortem revealed he had been strangled and assaulted. He had a couple of fractured ribs and bruises consistent with punches and blows.

"The body was in the comparatively early and unpleasant stages of decomposition.'

Jurors heard 'small-time drug dealer' Mr Painter had grown up in Salop Road with his family and at the time of his death was living there alone.

A CCTV camera fixed to the front of Mr Painter's neighbour's home captured a figure leaving the house at 11.33am on June 5.

Osei-Bonsu, also a drug dealer from Dagenham, was placed near the scene by his mobile phone and his DNA was discovered on a bottle of Evian mineral water.

He was arrested in January last year and claimed he sipped from the water bottle while talking to Mr Painter close to Jack's wine bar in St James Road.

Osei-Bonsu, also known to use an address in Hartington Road, Liverpool, shook his head as he was led down to the cells