AN alleged killer of two students has admitted throwing a knife into the Thames after the murders.

Nigel Farmer claims he was home at the time of the killings and later saw his co-defendant come back looking "crazy" with red stains on his clothing.

He told the Old Bailey today (May 13) that he had gone home separately from Dano Sonnex before Laurent Bonomo and Gabrial Ferez were killed.

The French students were tied up and stabbed 244 times on the morning of June 29 last year in Sterling Gardens, New Cross.

Farmer said he had spent the evening of June 28 and early hours of June 29 with Sonnex, moving from the Prince of Wales pub in Blackheath to the Brethney Arms in New Cross and on to a social club in Meeting House Lane, New Cross.

Farmer said they then went to a friend's house where he saw Sonnex holding a knife, discussing burgling the home of EastEnders actress Maureen Bass, who lived next door.

Farmer claims he later saw Sonnex in the garden next door, standing on some kind of structure.

The defendant said: "He looked to me like he had a knife between his teeth and he was attempting to climb down."

Farmer said he then left the house and was followed by Sonnex, before they went their separate ways.

He told the court he returned to Etta Street, Deptford, where he was staying with Sonnex's family, and went to bed.

In the morning he said he was on the sofa downstairs when he saw Sonnex coming in the house at around 8.30am.

Farmer said Sonnex looked "crazy" and was "wide-eyed and sweaty".

He said: "His trainers had all red staining on them. There was red staining on his trousers and his jacket.

"I asked him what had happened and he just shrugged it off and laughed."

Farmer said Sonnex then had a bath before coming back downstairs and bleaching the carpets.

Sonnex then allegedly left the house in a taxi, saying he had "something to finish off."

Farmer later saw Sonnex cleaning a knife in the kitchen.

He said he was then sent out in a van by the family with friend Bernard Cummings to fill up some cans with petrol and dispose of the knife.

Mr Cummings allegedly gave the knife to Farmer and told him to throw it in the river.

Farmer told the court: "He got quite nasty so I got out the van and threw it in the Thames."

The defendant said he was then told to fill up the cans because Mr Cummings did not want to be caught on CCTV.

Farmer told the court: "It was obvious there was something not right going on but I didn't know what."

He added: "I had a funny feeling I was becoming involved in whatever was happening."

Instead of taking the cans back to Etta Street, Farmer said he left them in some bushes, something which made Sonnex aggressive.

Farmer told the court: "He said 'that wasn't the plan - you were meant to bring them back' and he produced a knife from the kitchen drawer.

"He said that I was messing him about and he was going to stab me."

After bringing the cans of petrol back, Farmer claims Sonnex and his father told him Dano had stabbed someone that morning and the flat where it happened needed to be burned down.

Farmer said: "They said to me could I do them a favour and set fire to the place. They said because they'd looked after me for a few weeks and sorted me out."

He added: "I didn't feel too good about it at all."

The defendant admits setting fire to the Sterling Gardens bedsit but says he did so because he was frightened of Sonnex.

Farmer had previously told the court how he had wanted to leave London before the murders but had been persuaded not to by his mother and Sonnex's older brother Bernie.

When looking for a place to stay, Farmer turned to Bernie Sonnex, despite allegedly being punched by him several times and witnessing other violent incidents in previous weeks.

He explained: "I didn't have anyone left and I felt lonely and isolated."

Farmer moved in with the Sonnex family on June 14 and told the court he spent "an hour or two" with Dano Sonnex every day.

While staying there, the defendant said he noticed "stolen goods" including a French laptop and plasma TVs appearing at the house and being sold on by Sonnex.

He said Sonnex had a laptop and "was complaining that he'd managed to change the language into English and it was reverting into French."

Sonnex, aged 23, of Etta Street, Deptford, and Farmer, aged 34, of no fixed address, deny murder, arson and false imprisonment.

Farmer denies burglary but Sonnex admits the charge.

The trial continues.