A 20-year-old murderer was given a life sentence for killing a Class A drug dealer in London Colney.

Ahsanullah Nawazai, known as Marshall, was stabbed in a grey Nissan Qashqai on November 28 last year outside Walsingham Way, London Colney.

The 20-year-old victim managed to get out of the car, but was found collapsed in a pool of blood outside St Bernadette Catholic Primary School by a jogger at about 7pm.

He was not wearing shoes and there was a crumpled £20 note hanging out of his jeans.

Mr Nawazai was taken to Watford General Hospital, where he later died.

There were two housemates accused of the murder - Carla Callum, 30, and Anis Anderson, 20.

After considering their verdicts for more than 11 hours, a jury at St Albans Crown Court cleared Ms Callum of both murder and an alternative count of manslaughter, but found Anderson guilty.

Anderson, from Fordwych Road, London NW2, was sentenced for life with a minimum of 24 years - minus the 184 days he has already served in custody.

Prosecutor Steven Perian QC said Mr Nawazai had been a crack cocaine dealer who was called to the Walsingham Way property to be "viciously and brutally stabbed and robbed of his drugs and money".

A post-mortem examination revealed he suffered a number of knife injuries, including a fatal stab wound to the chest.

He was also stabbed in his left chest and left arm, as well as cut on his left forehead, right outer eye, right arm and both hands.

Police did not find any drugs when they searched the Nissan Qashqai, but it was blood stained.

There was a black latex glove, with its thumbs and wrists missing, in the centre console - the victim's blood was on the outside and Anderson's DNA was found on the inside.

In Anderson and Ms Callum's kitchen sink, the police found a wet black handled knife and three pieces of a black glove.

An expert said two of those pieces came from the glove in the console. DNA from Anderson and his victim were also on the knife.

During the two week trial the jury heard the defendants left the scene together. CCTV footage showed them entering the Broad Colney Lakes Nature Reserve in London Colney, where the prosecution alleged items linked to the stabbing were dumped.

They then went to the Elstree Inn Hotel on Shenley Road in Borehamwood, where they paid for a room in cash and Ms Callum gave her name as Kirsty Smith.

Staying there for two nights, the pair left on November 30 and on that day, Ms Callum approached a police cordon around Walsingham Way, telling officers: "I live at number 4. I have been away for a few days."

She was arrested at the scene and Anderson was apprehended the next day, on December 1, in Tilbury.

In the witness box Ms Callum said she bought drugs from Mr Nawazai, who she described as "a very nice guy who would take her for a milkshake".

She said she would never have hurt him.

Anderson, who had been sofa surfing before he moved in with Ms Callum, claimed she had told him to rob Mr Nawazai or she would make him homeless.

He claimed Ms Callum told him to rob a drug dealer by intimidating him with a knife.

He said: "I just wanted to keep her satisfied because I wanted a place to stay."

After getting into the passenger seat of the car, Anderson said he froze and did not know what to do. He said: "He asked me why I was nervous. I couldn't get the words out of my mouth.

"He locked the door by the central locking."

Anderson told the jury Mr Nawazai punched him in the face a few times and picked up the knife when it fell from Anderson's pocket.

He said Mr Nawazai then tried to stab him, and there was a "push and pull struggle" in which the victim was fatally wounded.

Defending Kevin Molloy said Anderson was "profoundly sorry."

He said the crime was uncharacteristic, citing that Anderson had only one previous conviction for carrying a lock knife.

Judge Michael Kay QC said: "Whatever illegal activity Mr Nawazai was involved in, he was a beloved brother, son and friend.

"We will never know what the future held for him if he could have turned his life around."

The judge excused the jury from further service for the next ten years.