The victims were bludgeoned to death and then stabbed before the flat was set on fire, court hears.

A heroin addict battered two men to death with a hammer and set fire to their flat to cover his tracks, a court has heard.

Paul O’Shea, 37, allegedly murdered Othamane Majdouline, 51, and his friend Leandro Da Silva, 47, during a visit to their King’s Cross flat to buy drugs.

Firefighters found the two victims’ bodies slumped dead on the sofa and blood splattered over the walls when they were called to put out a fire at the property in Stelfox House, Penton Rise, shortly after 7pm on January 2 this year.

Both had suffered severe head injuries as well as stab wounds inflicted when they were most likely already dead, the Old Bailey heard. Opening the case on Monday, Mark Fenhalls QC told the jury that CCTV identified O’Shea, of Northdown Road, King’s Cross, as the “only candidate” for the killing.

“Both were dead when the fire was set. The issue is, who did it?

“The prosecution say that man was Paul O’Shea. He was there in that flat and had obtained drugs from these two men.

“The only candidate to have killed these two men and set that fire is Paul O’Shea.”

Mr Majdouline, a Moroccan, was the registered tenant of the flat and was known to police as a low level drug dealer. His friend Mr Da Silva, who lived in Fyfield, Six Acres Estate, Finsbury Park, often stayed at the flat.

O’Shea, originally from Portlaoise, Co Laoise, Ireland, was captured on CCTV entering Stelfox House at around 6.16pm with a black flat screen in an orange Sainsbury’s carrier bag.

He was allowed entry in the corridor to Mr Majdouline’s flat at number 17 and at 6.31pm a woman left through the same door.

At 6.54pm, twelve minutes before neighbours dialled 999, O’Shea left the third floor entry door with the same orange bag.

Mr Fenhalls said: “By this stage he had killed the two men in the flat and he is now leaving, making good his escape having set the fire.”

Police found an orange bag for life with both O’Shea and Mr Majdouline’s blood inside behind his sofa on arrest, it was claimed.

O’Shea refused to be interviewed by police but admitted he was dependent on heroin. He denies two charges of murder and one of arson.