Man charged over murder of French students

British police have charged a man with the murder of two French students killed last week in a frenzied knife attack and then burned in a London apartment, Scotland Yard said yesterday.

Nigel Edward Farmer, 33, was charged with the double murder of the Frenchmen as well as arson and attempting to pervert the course of justice, police said.

Bio-engineering students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were bound, gagged and repeatedly stabbed in Bonomo's south London apartment. Police called it the most frenzied, brutal and horrific murder they had investigated.

Mr Bonomo was stabbed nearly 200 times, with up to 80 of the wounds inflicted after he was dead. Mr Ferez had nearly 50 knife wounds. The killer or killers then set fire to the apartment in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Mr Farmer turned himself in on Monday but was first taken to hospital to receive treatment for severe burns before police began questioning him.

A man seen running away from the vicinity of the apartment on the night of the murders has been described by witnesses as white, aged between 30 and 40. A laptop computer was stolen from the flat six days before the murders and Mr Bonomo, who was taking a shower, disturbed the intruder. Police at the weekend arrested a 21-year-old, but later released him without charge.

French newspapers said the murders highlighted how dangerous London has become. London police have arrested more than 1,200 people and seized more than 500 knives in a six-week crackdown against stabbings and knife crime.