She was dead in the flat above him for two years whilst he chomped on pizza every day? That’s real sick!

Surely, the smell from her flat must have been awful and there must’ve been maggots and flies! Very macabre...

Yes, one would think so. The stench from a decaying body surely can't have gone unnoticed. A few other things just don't hang right.

Rent and utility bills have to be paid. Who paid them?
No relatives were concerned enough to make enquiries.

Yes, one would think so. The stench from a decaying body surely can't have gone unnoticed. A few other things just don't hang right.

Rent and utility bills have to be paid. Who paid them?
No relatives were concerned enough to make enquiries.

Unless the bills were paid through the bank but you’d think someone would have noticed she hadn’t been seen for two years.

Ms Conlon's pension was still being paid into her bank account because everyone except Sharkey was unaware of her death.

The card was used to buy services from O2, Sainsbury's and Power NI.

The court heard that Sharkey was careful to pay the rates bill on Ms Conlon's flat to avoid discovery.

Marie Conlon's family issued a statement on Thursday night, it said: "We are shocked and heartbroken to learn about the loss of our beloved sister.

"The tragic circumstances of her death make it all the more difficult to comprehend and accept.

"Marie was very much loved by her family and will be mourned greatly. She was a very independent person.

"Numerous attempts had been made to contact her in person, and by other means, over the course of the past two years but at no point were suspicions raised that she had been deceased.

"It is only with hindsight that the unimaginable now seems possible," the statement added.

Sinn Féin councillor Séanna Walsh said: "One of the tragedies, I suppose, of modern living is that in areas like this you don't have the same sense of connectedness that you would have had if she had have lived in a house further into the estate."

"This type of accommodation is very transitory, there's people coming and going all the time. I just find it tragic, the whole episode."