Court heard she faces up to two years in jail

A woman who covered up the killing of her drug-addicted flatmate by disposing of his mobile phone and rucksack will be sentenced next month.

The Old Bailey heard Rochelle Zapanta, 25, of Connaught Road, Willesden, helped crystal meth dealer David Van Der Riet, 34, try and avoid arrest after the death of 29 year-old Jaypee Maderazo.

The Filipino was found lying in Cecil Road, Harlesden, on August 13 last year.

He never regained consciousness and died from head injuries four days later.

It is claimed that Van Der Riet, who has admitted killing Mr Maderazo, handed the victim’s phone and rucksack to Zapanta.

Because of her actions the police had to issue photographs of the victim’s tattoos in a bid to found out who he was.

Zapanta initially denied perverting the course of justice but changed her plea to guilty on the second day of her Old Bailey trial last week.

She was told she would face up to two years in jail.

Jurors heard Van Der Riet preyed on a small community of Filipino drug addicts by selling them crystal meth.

Mr Maderazo sold the highly addictive drug for Van Der Riet but by August 2010 owed him �1,600.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said: “Whether Mr Maderazo had simply taken all the drugs himself or sold the drugs and gambled away the proceeds is not clear.

“While Jaypee Maderazo was in hospital in a coma being kept alive by machines, neither the police nor the medical staff new who he was.

“Without knowing who he was, the police couldn’t begin to know how to start their investigation.’”

Van Der Riet, a South African, has admitted the manslaughter of Mr Maderazo.

Both he and Zapanta will be sentenced on July 8.