TWO students were stabbed 244 times in a “relentless and merciless onslaught” lasting two-and-a-half hours, the Old Bailey heard today (April 27).

In his opening statement, prosecutor Crispin Aylett claimed Dano Sonnex and Nigel Farmer had tortured the students for their PIN numbers.

Gabriel Ferez and Laurent Bonomo, both 23, were bound at the ankles and wrists, before being stabbed at Mr Bonomo's flat in Sterling Gardens, New Cross, on the morning of June 29 last year.

The court heard both men had been repeatedly stabbed in the head.

Mr Aylett said the attack had begun as a burglary but the students had been disturbed and the intruders, “possibly intoxicated by a cocktail of drink and drugs”, had turned their attentions to them.

He claimed “an orgy of blood-letting” took place in the flat.

Mr Aylett said: “Whatever the reason for it, they subjected their victims to over two hours of the most hideous terror and suffering.

“And for what? £360, a couple of telephones and two PlayStation games – enough to keep them in drugs for a few days.”

It is alleged Sonnex withdrew £360 using Mr Bonomo's bank card early that morning but was unable to do the same with Mr Ferez's.

Mr Aylett said: “So, to take revenge for the fact that they had been unable to steal money from Mr Ferez, both men were murdered in a way that can only be described as inhuman.”

Following the murders, it is claimed that Farmer was seen at around 10pm that evening, setting fire to the flat to destroy the evidence.

Mr Aylett said: “What the firemen found was a scene of almost unimaginable horror.”

After an e-fit was released, Mr Farmer, who had badly burned his hands and face, handed himself into police.

Made to wait at Lewisham police station, it is claimed he told a witness: “I just killed two people and the police don't want to do anything about it.”

Sonnex was discovered in his grandparents' loft in Peckham and taken away by police.

Mr Aylett said: “On the way, from the back of the van, he laughed – long and loud.”

The accused men blame each other for the crime.

Sonnex says he merely acted as a look-out during the burglary and Farmer had gone “on the rampage.”

Farmer claims he had nothing to do with the attacks or burglary and says he did burn down the flat but only because he was scared of Sonnex.

But Mr Aylett told the court it was a joint enterprise “of unmitigated evil.”

It is also alleged that during the students' ordeal, Farmer called Sonnex's brother Bernie.

Bernie's girlfriend says Farmer was “screaming, ranting and raving.”

She claims she heard him say: “Shut your mouth or I'll cut your hand off.”

And Bernie Sonnex's girlfriend Fay Culyer claimed Farmer told her afterwards that “Sonnex had started stabbing the men in the head” and one had been stabbed in the eye.

He claimed Sonnex gave him the knife and told him “to finish them off” but that one of the men, believed to be Mr Bonomo, who was stabbed 194 times, “would not die”.

The jury was told that Sonnex has previous convictions for GBH with intent and robbery.

It is also alleged that just a few months before, he and another man had tied up his own foster sister, then five months pregnant, and her partner, in a bid to steal money from them.

During that incident, for which charges were never brought, it is claimed the couple were threatened with a knife, a hammer and a saw.

The court heard in the period leading up to the murders, Farmer, who also has a previous conviction for robbery, had been living with the Sonnex family.

Mr Aylett showed the jury pictures of the two dead men.

He said: “These two bright, talented and engaging men had brilliant futures ahead of them.

“They were dearly loved by their families and friends. Neither of them had an enemy in the world.”

Sonnex, aged 23, of Etta Street, Deptford, and Farmer, aged 33, of no fixed address, both deny murder, arson and false imprisonment.

Sonnex admits burglary but Farmer denies the charge.

The trial continues.