A drug addict has been found guilty of stabbing his friend to death and trying to cover up his crime by torching the flat.

01:22 A SHEPHERD'S Bush drug addict has been found guilty of stabbing his friend to death and trying to cover up his crime by torching the flat. 0 Comments

Charles Lansiquot, 42, of Bathurst House, White City, was convicted at the Old Bailey today for the murder of drug 'runner' Ibrahim Kledat in Lugard House, Bloemfontein Road, on October 20 last year.

Police were called to the flat at 8.10am after reports of a fire and when they entered the property 15 minutes later they found Mr Kledat, 54, face down on the floor having been stabbed to death.

At midday, crack-addict Lansiquot walked into Shepherd's Bush Police Station to say he had witnessed Mr Kledat's death.

He claimed he was in the flat when two men with balaclavas broke in and stabbed him to death while they held him at gunpoint.

Lansiquot said the attackers forced him to clean the evidence from the flat before making him take off his clothes but officers saw through his story and charged him with the murder three days later.

Detective Inspector Craig Jones, of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: "Lansiquot not only dreamt up an elaborate sequence of events to explain the victim's death, he also put the lives of other residents in the block of flats at risk when setting fire to the premises to cover his tracks.

“Good detective work provided evidence that his account was nothing but lies and resulted in the conviction today."

Lansiquot will be sentenced at the Old Bailey tomorrow.