A PAIR of drug-crazed thugs who murdered two French students have been given life sentences.

Dano Sonnex, aged 23, of Etta Street, Deptford, must serve a minimum of 40 years in prison.

Nigel Farmer, aged 34, of no fixed address, must spend at least 35 years behind bars before being considered for release.

Sentencing the men for the “truly horrific” crime, Judge John Saunders said: “Nigel Farmer and Dano Sonnex, the misery and suffering that you have caused cannot be measured.

“These are the worst crimes that I have ever had to deal with and unhappily no punishment that I can pass can ever bring any real comfort to the families.”

He told them: “I sentence you to life imprisonment. In your cases I anticipate that that may well mean life.”

The judge said they could only be considered for release by a parole board when they are “old or perhaps in poor health”.

He said: “I'm satisfied that the only possible reason for the number of stab wounds is that the killings were sadistic. The killers got pleasure from what they were doing.

“None of us can really fully appreciate the devastating loss that their families have suffered.”

The men looked impassive as they were sentenced.

The pair had denied murder, arson and false imprisonment but were found guilty on all charges by a jury at the Old Bailey today after a five-week trial.

A majority verdict of 11-1 was returned by the jury on all charges.

Farmer was also found guilty of burglary, which Sonnex had previously admitted.

As Sonnex left the dock he was seen to shrug his shoulders at the family of one of his victims.

Pictures from French student murders case

Sonnex and Farmer broke into Laurent Bonomo's bedsit in Sterling Gardens, New Cross, on the morning of June 29 last year.

Mr Bonomo and friend Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were bound at the wrists and ankles, and stabbed a total of 244 times.

In a two-and-a-half hour ordeal starting at around 5.40am, the men were stabbed in the head and body, allegedly to force them to reveal the PINs for their bank cards.

Sonnex had originally claimed he did not enter the bedsit until after the students were already dead, killed by Farmer.

But when giving evidence he changed his story, admitting that he helped tie the men up.

He claimed Farmer held down Mr Bonomo, punching him in the face to subdue him, while Sonnex tackled Mr Ferez.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett said a knife was used to threaten the students and they had complied because they would not have expected to be killed.

Mr Aylett said: “What they didn't reckon for were two people off their heads on a combination of drugs and drink, egging one another on with more horrific acts of violence.”

Sonnex had said he was “racing at 101 per cent”, because he was high on ecstasy, cocaine, cannabis and alcohol.

And he said Farmer was “out of his nut” on drink and drugs at the time The pair searched the bedsit, finding two PSPs, three mobile phones and Mr Bonomo's bank card, which Sonnex went out to use while Farmer stayed behind.

Sonnex was caught on CCTV camera using the card to withdraw £360 from a cash machine in New Cross Road, before heading back to the bedsit.

He was seen again on camera heading back to the cash machine around half an hour later, wearing Mr Ferez's glasses to disguise himself.

This time he used Mr Ferez's bank card but it was swallowed by the cash machine.

It was alleged Sonnex returned angrily to the bedsit around 7.35am when he and Farmer killed the students.

When asked in court why the men had to die, Sonnex could not answer.

Mr Aylett told him: “The answer to that Mr Sonnex is a truly pathetic one – that two mentally unstable thugs, high on drink and drugs, killed two boys out of revenge.”

After the murders, the two men split the money, with Farmer taking £300 and Sonnex selling on two PSPs and three phones taken from the flat.

Farmer returned to the scene at around 10pm that night to set fire to the property and destroy the evidence.

An e-fit picture was released days after and a badly-burned Farmer handed himself in at Lewisham police station, where he allegedly admitted killing the men to two women in the waiting area.

Sonnex was eventually arrested on July 10 after being found hiding in his grandparents' loft in Peckham.

Farmer claimed he played no part in the burglary or the murders and was at the Sonnex family home in Etta Street, Deptford, at the time.

And Sonnex said he did not harm the students and only found out they were dead when he returned from the second cash machine trip.