A MAN has claimed he was tied up and threatened with a saw by Dano Sonnex just months before Sonnex allegedly murdered two French students.

The witness, who cannot be named, claimed at the Old Bailey today (May 11) that 23-year-old Sonnex threatened him during an ordeal lasting up to 45 minutes.

Sonnex is accused, along with Nigel Farmer, of tying up, torturing and then killing French students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez in Sterling Gardens, New Cross, on June 29 last year.

The witness, who spoke in court from behind a screen, said he went to his girlfriend's house on February 10 last year and the door was opened by Sonnex who led him to a bedroom.

In the bedroom, another man, Marlon Gayle, was holding a knife to the woman's throat.

The witness said her arms and feet were tied up with what looked like a dressing gown cord and that he then had his own arms bound in front of him with white plastic cable ties.

Sonnex then started "demanding money", the court heard.

The witness said: "I just said I've got no money."

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett asked the witness: "How did he react to that?"

He replied: "He said he'd teach me a lesson."

The witness said Sonnex then "slapped me about a few times."

He told the court that Sonnex had a bag of tools with him, including a saw and a hammer, and that the defendant layed them out on the bed.

Sonnex then held the saw to the witness's neck, the court heard, before waving the hammer around.

The man said Sonnex seemed "upset" and "crazy".

A pillow case was then put over the witness's head.

But the witness claims he fought back, breaking free through "sheer anger" and struggling with Sonnex.

He told the court: "I broke loose of the cables and grabbed him and pushed him through some double doors."

The witness said he and the woman then ran out of the flat.

Farmer's defence counsel John Ryder asked the witness, who did not want to appear in court, if he feared there could be threats to his family from the Sonnex family if he gave evidence, and he agreed.

But Sonnex's defence sounsel Philip Misner put it to the witness that this had been a drug deal and the pair had not been tied up by his client.

Mr Misner accused the witness of pulling out a pistol during the encounter, something he denied.

A neighbour, who also cannot be named, then told the court how she had heard shouting and a scream from the flat that day.

She claimed then the witness "flew" out the front door.

The neighbour said: "As he flew past he was saying 'phone the police, phone the police'."

She told the court her neighbour then came running out with her hands held in front of her.

After that, the neighbour said Sonnex and Mr Gayle "came strolling out the door" and she called the police.

But the witnesses decided not to take the case any further, the court was told.

Farmer, aged 34, of no fixed address, and Sonnex, aged 23, of Etta Street, Deptford, deny murdering the French students, arson and false imprisonment.

Sonnex admits burglary but Farmer denies the charge.

The trial continues.