A woman has appeared in court accused of murder after a teenager’s body was found in an attic more than eight months after the alleged killing.

Stacey Docharty, 28, and Gary Hopkins, 36, were both charged with murder as well as perverting the course of justice and preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body, the Metropolitan police said on Friday..

The body was found at a house in Enfield, north London, on Monday – eight months after the alleged murder is said to have taken place.

Police later confirmed the victim to be Abdi Ali, 18.

The victim was reported missing to police on 31 December, 2017. He was last seen at home by his family on 11 December following a family wedding, Scotland Yard said.

The body is understood to be badly decomposed – a postmortem examination gave the cause of death as a blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds to the chest.

Docharty seemed distressed as she appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey on Friday and confirmed her details.

Hopkins will appear at the same court by video link on Monday.

Judge Anne Molyneux said the pair, both of Enfield, face a two to three-week trial in February and will appear at the same court for a plea hearing on 23 November.