Stabbed to death 'for two games consoles'

THE victims of a double murder might have died for the sake of two handheld games consoles, police said last night.

French students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were found bound, gagged and stabbed in a bedsit in south London on Sunday night. The flat had been set alight and the bodies were badly burned.

Detectives, who believe the pair may have been the victims of a savage robbery, said two Sony PSP consoles, costing £130 each, were stolen from Mr Bonomo's rented flat.

They fear a set of keys to the flat, stolen in a burglary six days earlier, may have enabled the attacker to surprise his victims. Officers are also hunting for a black Packard Bell laptop taken in the previous burglary, which happened while Mr Bonomo was in the shower.

Mr Ferez, who lived in South Norwood, had travelled to spend the evening at his friend's flat, where they were playing computer games.

Detective Chief Inspector Mick Duthie, who is leading the investigation, said: "We still have no clear idea of what has happened and why this has happened. However, with property being stolen this now suggests that the burglary which happened six days prior may well be linked to the murder."

He said they were still trying to establish whether the victims' bank cards were also stolen.

Mr Bonomo's fiancée, Mary Bertez, has vowed to avenge his death. She wrote on a social networking site: "My love, we were always together but unfortunately I wasn't there that evening. I will never stop thinking about you for a second. I had ten months of a happiness I had never experienced … I will give all the required information to the investigation, my dear, so you can be avenged."

DCI Duthie added: "The more we find out about (the victims] the more we find they were good, honest, hard-working young men … This is just a tragedy."