Dano Sonnex

Case overview

Dano Sonnex was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 40 years on June 4, 2008.

The offence

The New Cross double murder occurred on 29 June 2008 in Sterling Gardens, New Cross in South East London, United Kingdom, when two French research students, Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, were murdered in a rented apartment at Sterling Gardens, New Cross. The victims were bound, gagged, and tortured over several hours and finally died after being stabbed hundreds of times: Bonomo was stabbed 196 times and Ferez was stabbed 47 times; another account in the same proceedings stated they were stabbed 194 times and 50 times; another prosecution account stated a total of 244 stab wounds. A petrol-like accelerant was poured upon their bodies and their apartment was set on fire by one of the offenders. Greenwich mortuary autopsy showed both died from wounds to the head, neck and chest before the fire took hold.

The victims were biochemistry students and in their third year of a master’s degree at Polytech Clermont-Ferrand University in France. They were on a three-month DNA research project exchange programme at Imperial College in London. Laurent Bonomo was from Velaux, Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France. Gabriel Ferez was from Prouzel, Picardie in northern France.

During the incident, the victims’ bank cards and two Sony PSP handheld game consoles were missing and it was believed they were taken during the incident. Another account stated the attackers fled with “just £360, their mobile phones and two computer games.”

Prior to the events, on 23 June 2008, the same flat in Sterling Gardens, which Bonomo was renting, was burgled and a laptop was stolen.

Investigation

The Metropolitan Police issued an artist’s impression (E-fit) of the murders’ possible main suspect on 6 July 2008. The E-fit described a man described as: “white, 30 to 40 years of age, of slight or slim build and wearing light coloured baseball cap, a dark top with the word "Junfan" on, blue jeans and white trainers”.

Françoise and Olivier, the parents of Gabriel Ferez, appealed to reveal the truth and stated: “Please help us to reveal the truth. Help us to know, to understand and to come to terms with our loss.” They also stated: “Rest assured that we will not leave you in peace; and you will not be able to live in hiding forever.”

DCI Mick Duthie stated:

“I also want to reiterate an appeal for anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious throughout that day, last Sunday, June 29. Just to repeat what we know: Laurent spoke to his fiancee around 01:00 BST on the Sunday morning. After that, no-one heard from Laurent or Gabriel or saw them. It is important to stress that the attack could have taken place at any time during Sunday.”

Arrest and custody history related to other suspects

The Metropolitan Police announced on 5 July 2008 the arrest of a 21-year-old man, who was released on the afternoon of 6 July without further action.

Police held in custody a 33-year-old named Nigel Edward Farmer, who handed himself in at Lewisham police station. He was later taken to hospital for treatment of injuries. The thin 33-year-old man whose face and hands were badly burned had walked into Lewisham police station apparently to confess as the killer. He was told to wait in line at reception by a civilian worker for 5 minutes and said: “I've got third degree f***ing burns and they are not doing anything about it.” After being released from hospital, he was interviewed in custody by the police.

Armed police arrested Daniel “Dano” Sonnex, 23, in Peckham, south-east London, after Scotland Yard issued an alert to trace him. He was described as “extremely dangerous”. Sonnex was detained and investigated after his brother Bernard, 35, and a woman, 25, handed themselves to the police.

Sonnex had been previously detained regarding serious, violent incidents. His parents, Kathleen and Bernard, both 55, lived in a terraced house in New Cross.

Armed officers raided the brothers’ council house in Deptford, South East London. Sonnex was charged with murder and perverting the course of justice on 12 July 2008. He appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on 14 July. His brother Bernard and the woman were released on bail to return on July and August respectively pending further investigation.

Police were also granted more time to question a man of 23 on the murders.

Trial

The trial of Daniel Sonnex and Nigel Farmer began on 24 April 2009 at the Old Bailey. The jury began to consider their verdict on 29 May 2009.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC gave moving impact statements and described the killings as a joint enterprise. Aylett said the victims were tortured then murdered because Sonnex and Farmer were unable to get cash from a machine using one of the students’ bank cards. Aylett described the crime as a “joint enterprise of unmitigated evil” and said the victims were stabbed 244 times by Sonnex and “drug addict Nigel Farmer, 34”, during a three-hour torture ordeal.

During sentencing, trial judge Mr Justice Saunders said:

“I am satisfied that the only possible reason for the number of stab wounds is that the killings were sadistic. "The killers got pleasure from what they were doing.”

It was also stated in court that:

“[It] was a scene of unimaginable horror. The two men, dressed only in their underpants, had been tied up. They had been bound at the ankles and wrists; their heads had been wrapped with towels and cloths.
“They had been subjected to an attack of brutal and sustained ferocity: one of them had been stabbed 194 times; the other, 50 times.
"Both of them had been repeatedly stabbed in the head. In some instances, a knife had been used with such force that the skull had been penetrated and damage caused to the brain.”

The prosecution described that one of the men had told a friend that Sonnex stabbed the men “again and again”, including in the head and then gave him the knife to “finish them off”. The court heard that one of the victims “would not die”, which was said to have been alleged regarding Bonomo.

The trial also heard that Sonnex had previous knife convictions and prosecutors told the jury that they showed Sonnex “has a propensity to use and revel in gratuitous and excessive violence”. The jury was also told there was no evidence that either Farmer or Sonnex suffered from mental illness.

During trial, it was stated that the defendants each denied murder, denied false imprisonment and arson, and were reckless as to whether life would be endangered. Sonnex had already pleaded guilty to burgling the address on the same date; he and Farmer both denied murder.

Sentencing

On 4 June 2009, Sonnex and Farmer were found guilty of murder. Sonnex was sentenced to serve a minimum of 40 years in prison, and Farmer was ordered to stay behind bars for at least 35 years.

A separate sentencing outcome in the provided material stated that Sonnex was sentenced to life in prison (minimum 40 years) on June 4, 2008.

The BBC News account described that Sonnex and Farmer were jailed for life for murdering Gabriel Ferez, 23, and Laurent Bonomo, 23, in New Cross in June 2008.

After sentencing, Guy Bonomo, Laurent’s father, said:

“We have not seen the trial of two human beings - they are animals.
“We were hoping for a more severe sentence - they should never be let out.”

Francoise Villemont, the mother of Gabriel Ferez, said:

“Nothing will remove the suffering and I can never accept the torture that was inflicted on Gabriel gratuitously.”

Appeals

The High Court rejected a plea by Scott Lomax, described as a crime author, that Sonnex’s and Farmer’s life sentences must mean life. The material indicated that the High Court had the final say on how long a life sentence prisoner must serve behind bars.

Outcome

Sonnex was convicted of murder and burglary and was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 40 years.

Farmer was also found guilty of burglary, and was convicted of false imprisonment and arson. The material stated both men were also convicted of false imprisonment and arson.

Other details

Sonnex should have been in prison at the time of the murders but had been set free due to an administrative error. David Scott, the chief officer of London Probation, resigned in March 2009 after an investigation began into why Sonnex had not been recalled to prison.

The material stated that Jack Straw apologised to the families over blunders that left Sonnex free to commit the crime and that the families announced intentions to commence legal proceedings against the authorities.

The material also stated that two reviews into Sonnex’s case blamed “bloodbath management failings” in the London Probation Service. The probation service head David Scott resigned.

Sonnex was described as “nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’” and was said to have come from a South London criminal family, with his father, brother, and sister reported as having served prison sentences.

Crispin Aylett QC told the Old Bailey that the defendants were “possibly intoxicated by a cocktail of drink and drugs” during the “orgy of blood-letting”.

An account of Sonnex’s earlier offences stated that he was jailed for eight years in 2003 for an attack on rival Ersan Topcu, then 16, who was stabbed three times in the back and chest in a trivial row over a car in May 2002. That account stated Sonnex went on the run for six months and then armed himself with a blank-firing 8mm replica Barretta handgun to go on a robbery spree.

That account also described a robbery involving Fleur Staal, 23, in Surrey Quays, and threats while holding a gun to her head. It further described a robbery at the Welcome Inn take-away in Bermondsey involving shopworker Chan Lugia and Mrs Lugia’s son Ngiep, where Sonnex was said to have jumped on to the counter and fired the imitation gun twice, then fired a third time when Ngiep ran from the back to confront him. It stated that when Mr Lugia realised the gun was firing blanks he gave chase, managed to grab hold of Sonnex and throw him against a nearby shopfront. The account also stated the takeaway worker was pistol whipped before his brother ran to help him and that Sonnex pulled out a lock knife and threatened the two men before police arrived. It then stated: “On February 7 2003 he was jailed for a total of eight years for the offences.”

The same account stated that Sonnex was released on licence on February 8 last year and within two days he stage a similar attack in a row over drugs, tricking his way into a flat in Bermondsey, taking a pregnant woman captive, ordering she call her partner, and when he arrived finding a girlfriend bound at the wrists and ankles and held at knifepoint. It stated the man was also bound and that a pillow case was placed over his head before Sonnex made threats using a saw and a hammer and demanded money. It stated a complaint was later made to police but charges were not proceeded with, and Sonnex was on licence and not recalled to custody.

The same account stated that Sonnex was caught in April last year after being arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, although he was later to be granted bail. It stated Sonnex claimed his family’s hatred for the police stemmed from a raid on their home when he was a child.

It also stated that Sonnex’s father Bernard Sonnex had 26 convictions recorded against him for 47 crimes including gun and drugs offences, and that he had served six prison sentences.

The material stated that Sonnex’s brother Bernie, 36, was only released from prison a few days before the end of his brother’s trial, and that he had 21 convictions for 34 offences and had served ten prison sentences. It stated Louise Sonnex, his 35-year-old sister, was jailed for five years on March 30 this year for causing grievous bodily harm after she repeatedly hit another woman with a golf club.

Additional trial-related narrative in the material stated that at 6.34am on the day of the killings Nigel Farmer rang Bernie Sonnex on his mobile “screaming, ranting and raving” and that Farmer was inside Laurent Bonomo’s bedsit while the two men could be heard struggling in the background. It stated Farmer shouted: “Shut your ------- mouth or I’ll cut your hand off.”

The material also stated that after the killings, and visibly burnt, Farmer went to his mother’s house for dinner and the pair discussed the students’ murders, with Farmer’s mother saying:

“I was really upset, I just thought why would somebody do something like that to them?
“Nigel said that maybe, because of their DNA studies, they had found something out about somebody.”

A quote from Oliver Ferez, Gabriel’s father, was included: “I hope my son's death will not be in vain.” Another quote included: “He was taking legal action because both the students "would be alive today if the British justice system had not failed us".” A quote from Laurent’s father Guy Bonomo was included: “I think every person concerned who had something to do with this should be in front of a court.”

The material also stated that 600 students on 7 July demonstrated against the murders in Clermont Ferrand, France. The group led by Mayor Serge Godart included teachers, local residents and children that carried a huge banner “Pour Lolo et Gab” (“For Lolo et Gab”), and the banner included: “From all the corners of the world, the second-year biological students think of you and those close to you”.

It further stated that on the afternoon of 8 July a Greenwich Magistrates’ Court judge granted the Metropolitan Police’s request for extension of investigation by issuing a 36 hours “warrant of further detention,” and that Southwark Coroner’s Court adjourned the coroner’s inquest for 28 days pending police inquiries.

Before arrest, it was stated that Sonnex was reported to have been previously detained regarding serious, violent incidents and that he had been previously set free due to an administrative error.

An account described that sooner after being released, Sonnex and a pal tied up and robbed a pregnant woman and her boyfriend. It stated that the couple refused to give statements to police fearing reprisals from Sonnex’s family and the case was left on file. It also stated Sonnex was quizzed by his probation officer and simply denied being involved, that he missed a probation appointment on April 28, and that he had earlier been arrested in possession of a handbag stolen in a burglary, charged with handling stolen goods and remanded by Greenwich magistrates to Belmarsh Prison.

The same material stated that on May 3 Sonnex’s probation officer began a recall process to serve the remaining 2½ years of his original sentence, that it should have taken a day but took 40 days to send papers to the Home Office, and that on May 16 Sonnex was bailed by magistrates due to an expectation that he would remain behind bars because his licence had been revoked. It also stated a probation service email to court staff stressed recall had not been completed but that the message went to Greenwich magistrates instead of the court’s annexe at Belmarsh Prison and was not forwarded, and that Sonnex was given “technical bail” and gave family home in Deptford as a place to live. It stated it took the probation service until June 12 to send a fax to the Home Office asking for him to be returned to prison, and that the Metropolitan Police were asked to arrest him the following day. It stated officers waited 16 days before looking for him and that eventually two cops arrived at his home at 2.30pm on June 29 nine hours after the two French students were murdered. It stated Sonnex gave officers the slip but was caught on July 10 hiding in his grandparents’ loft in Peckham.

A separate burglary-related detail stated that a week before the murders Sonnex broke in and stole a computer as Bonomo was in the shower.

A further detail stated that it emerged later that Sonnex tried to burgle the home of EastEnders actress Laila Morse, who plays Mo Harris, shortly before the killings.