THE jury in the trial of two men accused of murdering two French students has been sent home for the weekend.

They were sent out earlier today (May 29) to consider their verdict after hearing five weeks of evidence at the Old Bailey.

Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were tied up and stabbed a total of 244 times in Sterling Gardens, New Cross, on June 29 last year.

Dano Sonnex and Nigel Farmer are accused of the murders.

The pair allegedly tortured the students for the PIN numbers to their bank cards before killing them.

At around 10pm that day, Farmer admits setting fire to the murder scene but claims he did so under pressure from Sonnex's family.

Sonnex claims that, though he helped tie the students up, he went out to get money using the bank cards and did not go back into the bedsit until Farmer had killed both men.

But Farmer says he never went to the Sterling Gardens flat, claiming that he was at the Sonnex family home in Etta Street, Deptford, at the time.

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.