Second man charged in student murders

Police charged a second suspect on Saturday in the frenzied murders of two French students, which caused shock on both sides of the Channel.

Metropolitan Police said they had charged 23-year-old Daniel Sonnex with the murders of 23-year-old students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez and with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Earlier this week police charged Nigel Edward Farmer, 33, with the two murders, as well as arson and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Another man and a woman have also been arrested and freed on bail but were not charged.

Police have previously described the June 29 murders as among the most gruesome crimes they ever encountered. The pair were tied up, stabbed scores of times and the apartment was set ablaze.

The slayings took place at a time when there has been a wave of knife crime in the British capital, drawing attention from the media and politicians. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has promised to announce new crime-fighting measures next week.

French newspapers have said the slayings in London showed how dangerous the capital has become.

Police say that knife crime is now their number one focus, but deny that it has reached "epidemic" proportions.

Police say London is safe for a city of its size, and the murder rate, about 160 killings a year, has been steady for the past several years.