A killer who sparked a five year international manhunt when he fled after stabbing a young DJ to death has been jailed for life.

At Woolwich Crown Court today Jeffrey Okafor, 24, was told he will serve a minimum of 17 years after being found guilty of murdering Norbury teenager Carl Beatson-Asiedu.

The 19-year-old, who was known as DJ Charmz, was stabbed in the heart near Club Life in Kennington, on August 1, 2009.

His friends and emergency services tried to get him to hospital but he was pronounced dead on the way there.

The friend who was with Carl in the moments leading up to his murder was also stabbed but survived.

During the trial at Woolwich Crown Court jurors heard the stabbing had happened after Mr Beatson-Asiedu and his friends were approached by a group of men after his set at the club.

A few of them were known to Mr Beatson-Asiedu and his friends as they had previously attended the same college.

An argument broke out between one of the men and one of Carl's friends which led to an altercation, during which he became separated from his friends and was fatally stabbed by Jeffrey Okafor.

Within an hour of the attack Okafor telephoned his girlfriend and told her that he had been involved in the incident stating "there had been a madness".

Okafor later told his girlfriend that he had stabbed Charmz in the stomach.

He gave her a pair of black gloves he had worn on that evening and asked her to look after them and dispose of his distinctive t-shirt.

When police identified and spoke to his girlfriend she handed them the gloves which were found to have Carl's DNA on them.

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Carl Beatson-Asiedu, known as DJ Charmz, was fatally stabbed in the heart

Detectives attended Okafor's home in Dulwich in the early hours of August 13, 2009, but he was not there.

It later became apparent from enquiries and from his account at trial that he managed to escape out of the back window into a neighbour's garden returning when the police had left.

Okafor then went to the bank and withdrew all his funds before travelling to Barking where he checked into a hotel for three days.

On August 17, 2009, Okafor was captured on CCTV with his brother Junior at Heathrow Airport.

The brothers swapped clothing and Jeffrey Okafor left the UK on a flight to Lagos, Nigeria, using Junior's passport.

In Nigeria Okafor began building a new life, but in the lead up to the fifth anniversary of Carl's murder, detectives supported by Carl's family, renewed their appeal to trace him.

A reward of £10,000 for information was secured and promoted worldwide via the media and Facebook.

Vital information was provided to detectives and with the help of the Nigerian authorities and the British High Commission.

Okafor was arrested on September 23 last year in Warri, Delta State by Nigerian police officers.

He was extradited to the UK on November 6 last year, where he was arrested and charged with murder.

Detective Inspector Alison Hepworth said: "Carl's death has had a profound effect on his family and they have waited a very long time to see justice served. 

"Today's sentence should serve as a warning to those who attempt to evade justice. No matter the length of time or distance we will do all we can, using all means available to us to find you.

"I am pleased with the sentence that has been handed down today and I hope that this brings some small measure of comfort to Carl's family."