A BROTHER of New Cross student murderer Dano Sonnex has been jailed for 40 months after burgling a houseboat.

Bernard Sonnex, aged 39, from Camberwell, had clambered aboard the boat last September in Surrey Quays, not realising a pregnant woman was sleeping inside.

As he tried to escape with a stash of stolen property, he was caught by another occupant who managed to detain him until police arrived.

Sonnex admitted burglary via videolink at Woolwich Crown Court on February 13.

Detective Constable Alastair Lovell of Southwark Burglary Squad said: "The arrest and conviction of Bernard Sonnex shows our ongoing commitment to bringing offenders to justice and I hope this reassures our residents."

Sonnex's Deptford brother Dano was found guilty in 2009 of murdering French students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez at a flat in Sterling Gardens, New Cross. The pair were stabbed a total of 244 times in the drug-fuelled attack.

During the killer's trial, jurors heard extensive evidence about Bernard Sonnex's violent lifestyle.

After the conviction, Bernard Sonnex even named his newborn son after his murderous sibling.

Dano Sonnex, a Broadmoor inmate, was back in court late last year after trying to build a makeshift glider using shelves, coat hangers, a mattress and sheets to fly out over the prison walls and escape.