A 62-year-old has been jailed for 30 years for killing father Gary Hampson and hiding his body.

Daniel Alexander wanted to take over his business partner’s drug-dealing operation after he finished spending his girlfriend’s life savings.

He was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice yesterday (December 21) after a seven-week trial at Hove Crown Court.

It is the first time Sussex Police has secured a murder conviction where the body of the victim has not been found.

Sentencing Alexander, Judge Michael Lawson said: “The murder was brutal and done with the clear intention to kill.”

Accomplice Roy Bartup was jailed for eight years while Alexander’s partner, Linda Rosenberg, was jailed for three years.

Justice Detective Chief Inspector Jeff Riley, of the Surrey and Sussex major crime team, said: “It has been one of the most complex investigations that I have worked on and I am delighted that after a long, intense trial justice has been done.”

Alexander had claimed that Merseyside drug dealers had killed Mr Hampson and removed his body.

The victim was a drug dealer from Liverpool, living at Benfield Court in Old Shoreham Road, Portslade.

He and Alexander ran the Kop Cars garage in Little Western Street, Brighton, as a front for drug dealing.

Last movement

At the end of 2010, Alexander spent the last of Rosenberg’s savings and then turned his attention to his business partner.

Mr Hampson’s last confirmed movement was a mobile phone call at 11.10am on January 8, 2011.

The court was told Alexander lay in wait at the garage that morning.

He killed Mr Hampson and then started selling off every valuable item there, including cars brought in by customers.

Police visited Kop Cars after a tip-off found Roy Bartup behaving suspiciously, as well as about drugs and found white powder, cutting blades and syringes. They did not believe they had enough evidence to arrest Bartup or make a fuller search.

Detectives now believe Mr Hampson’s body was still in the garage when the officers went there.

Blood in car

On January 21 a Renault Megane was recorded by police cameras leaving Brighton on the A23 and an hour later at the junction of the A29 and A281 on the border of Sussex and Surrey. Mr Hampson’s blood was later found in the car.

Police searched 17 different sites in Sussex and Surrey to try to recover Mr Hampson's body without success, including ponds and stretches of the River Adur between Cowfold and Henfield.

In March 2011 an informant told police that Alexander had told her he killed Hampson and had heard Bartup and Alan Topping discuss how they had “got rid” of the body.Police launched a murder inquiry and arrested Bartup, Alexander, Topping and Rosenberg.

The Argus: Daniel Alexander and Roy BartupDaniel Alexander and Roy Bartup

Daniel Alexander and Roy Bartup

Daniel Alexander – Guilty

Daniel Alexander was sentenced to 30 years for murder and eight years for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, to run concurrently.

He was also given a concurrent six-year term for robbing the off-licence and two eight year terms for the attempted robbery and wounding in Chichester Place.

Alexander had six previous convictions for 19 offences, including a robbery at a petrol station in 2005 where he threatened to set fire to petrol if the cashier did not hand over money.

Samuel Stein QC said: “Despite the conviction he maintains his innocence.

“He misses Mr Hampson. “He is 62. Any sentence is going to lead to the very real likelihood that he will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Alexander is estranged from his only surviving child. His son died in the Rwandan genocides and another daughter died last year.

Mr Stein said there was no evidence Alexander killed Gary Hampson to take over his drugs racket.

He said: “He didn’t regard himself as a dealer.”

But Judge Lawson told him: ““I’m satisfied that the murder was committed in the hope of financial gain for the continued drug dealing from those premises. I’m equally satisfied that this was therefore a planned and deliberate attack.”

He said Alexander had lain in wait for Hampson at the garage on January 8.

He said: “You were ready and armed to kill.”

Roy Bartup – guilty

Roy Bartup was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The 58-year-old, of Natal Road, Brighton, was brought in by Alexander to help get rid of Hampson’s body.

Bartup was a street dealer who carried a heavy ornamental egg in a sock as a homemade weapon for protection.

Antony Chinn QC, defending, said: “Drug dealers are vulnerable on the street. He is vulnerable to those who want money in an easy fashion and unlikely to report to the police any attack.”

Bartup claimed that he had travelled to Surrey to commit a burglary, not to dispose of Mr Hampson’s body.

But Judge Lawson said: “Whether you did so to provide cover should you get caught for any subsequent trial or simply because you couldn’t resist perhaps does not matter.

“What it does clearly demonstrate is that you were wholly unaffected, like Mr Alexander, by the death of Mr Hampson.”

After becoming homeless in 2010 he stayed at the home of Alexander and Rosenberg.

Judge Lawson said he had quickly started dealing from Kop Cars after the murder. He said: “By January 13, you Mr Bartup with express permission to be in those premises, were engaged in the supply of drugs from those premises, on Mr Hampson’s turf.”

The Argus: Linda RosenbergLinda Rosenberg

Linda Rosenberg – guilty

Linda Rosenberg was sentenced to three years for perverting the course of justice.

The 68-year-old, of Montpelier Road, Brighton, struck up a relationship with Alexander by post while they were both in prison.

They had been together since 2010.

Since then, Alexander spent all her £46,000 life savings on drugs.

When he went into hiding after the murder, he even took her benefits cash.

Rossano Scarmadella, defending, said “blind loyalty” made her lie to save Alexander and that her personality was her downfall.

He said: “When she gets talking about something it’s impossible to stop her.

“Her inability sometimes just to be quiet is what has led her to the position she is in.”

Judge Lawson told her: “You knew that Mr Alexander was responsible for the murder.

“You decided therefore to assist by trying to place the blame on Mr Bartup.

“In the end you did not succeed, but it was not for want of trying on your part.”

Telling the court she is estranged from her twin children, Mr Scarmadella said : “When she finishes the inevitable prison sentence she will not only be penniless as a result of Daniel Alexander’s behaviour, she will be alone and penniless: a dreadful thing for a 68-yearold woman to have to face at this stage of her life.”

Alan Topping – not guilty

Alan Topping was found not guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The 48-year-old, who is serving a sentence for drug dealing at Lewes Prison, is due to be released in January.

He had been accused of helping dispose of the body.

He gave a statement to The Argus, saying: “I, Alan Topping, have always maintained during police interviews and at my trial that I played no part in the disappearance and seemingly tragic death of Gary Hampson.

“I have had the ordeal of a criminal trial in which it was alleged that I was responsible for disposing of Mr Hampson’s body, an allegation which I always strenuously denied.

“I have today been completely exonerated by the jury’s finding of ‘not guilty’.

“My faith in the criminal justice system has now been restored.

“I would particularly like to thank my outstanding legal team, Gerard Maye Legal and my counsel Lewis Power QC and Ross Talbott.”

The Argus: Gary Hampson's daughter's father's day appealGary Hampson's daughter's father's day appeal

I just want to say goodbye says heartbroken daughter

“My one wish is to find him and simply say goodbye.”

Gary Hampson’s daughter, who was ten when he dropped her off at her mother’s house for the last time on January 6 2011, voiced her feelings simply in a statement to the judge.

She had previously written a heartfelt Father’s Day appeal, published by police, to try to provoke a tip-off to lead to the discovery of her father’s grave.

Judge Lawson described the absence of his body as “the greatest anguish of all”.

The girl cannot be named by order of the court.

Her mother, Mr Hampson’s ex-partner, said yesterday: “The last two years have been extremely difficult for Gary's family and friends, but most particularly for his children. His daughter, who is now 11, idolised her father and this verdict will go some way to providing the closure that she needs and so dearly craves.

“All we ask and pray now is that the guilty parties or those associated with them, will disclose the last, vital missing piece of information so that Gary may finally be laid to rest.

"With the culprits having been found guilty and now imprisoned, I urge and plead for anyone who may have information as to where Gary's remains are located to come forward in order to help my daughter reach full closure and so that she may finally attempt to start rebuilding her life.”

DCI Jeff Riley said: “Gary's family and friends have been put through the torment of a prolonged and difficult trial and denied any form of closure due to his body not being found.

“I would appeal again to anyone who knows the whereabouts of Gary's body to please get in touch. You can call 101 and quote Operation Jubilee or leave a message anonymously with the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

"Any new lines of inquiry will be investigated."

The Argus: Traces of blood were found in the boot of a carTraces of blood were found in the boot of a car

Blood found in boot of car

Withno body, forensics were the key to building a case that Gary Hampson had been murdered by Daniel Alexander. Kop Cars had been sold, cleaned and partly repainted by the time police scenes of crime officers got inside.

But patches of Mr Hampson's blood were found on the wall, door and window and on a desk which was found dismantled at the garage. His blood was also found in the boot of a Renault Megane, on the panels and liner and the back seats.

Police believe the car – which belonged to a Kop Cars customer – was used to transport the body to its final resting place.

Alexander said the blood got in the boot because of contact with cleaning products he had used to clear up the blood after the “Scousers” had left with the body

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