June 4, 2009: Sonnex And Farmer Found Guilty

Two men who tortured and killed two young research students have been found guilty at the Old Bailey of their murders. They are Nigel Farmer and Dano Sonnex. Farmer was also found guilty of arson with intent to endanger life; two counts of false imprisonment and one count of burglary. Sonnex was also found guilty of one count of burglary; two counts of false imprisonment and one count of arson to endanger life.

They have both been sentenced to life imprisonment. Sonnex will serve a minimum of 40 years and Farmer will serve a minimum of 35 years.

The case has attracted huge controversy because of the way in which the criminal justice system handled the supervision of those involved. Response to the case have come from Justice Secretary Jack Straw, the Ministry of Justice, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and probation union Napo.

During a five week trial, the jury heard details of how the two students, French men Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, were tied up for a number of hours, tortured for their PIN numbers and repeatedly stabbed in an early morning attack at a studio flat in New Cross, London, on 29 June 2008.

Farmer went back to the flat that night and set fire to it in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Emergency services were called after neighbours heard an explosion and saw flames at the premises.

Police were not sure for some time if it had been a stranger attack, as it appeared, or if there were underlying motives that could lead to the killers. Within 36 hours, officers knew that credit cards belonging to the victims had been used locally in the early morning, before the flat was set on fire. Further research showed the flat had been burgled the week before and this strengthened the belief that burglary was the strongest motive.

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