A man who murdered two women and hid their bodies inside his freezer has been jailed for life.

Zahid Younis, 36, must serve a minimum of 38 years after being found guilty of killing Henriett Szucs and Mihrican Mustafa.

The bodies of Ms Szucs, a Hungarian national who slept rough in Ilford, and Ms Mustafa, a mother-of-two from Canning Town who was also known as Mary Jane, were found inside a freezer in Younis’ flat in Vandome Close, Custom House last year.

Both had sustained multiple injuries including rib fractures.

Younis was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court today (Thursday, September 3), shortly after a jury convicted him of two counts of murder, and refused to leave his cell to attend the sentencing hearing.

His barrister Icah Peart QC said: “I have been downstairs to speak to him to try to persuade him to return to court. He feels unable to do so.”

The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, said: “It will surprise no-one in this room that the defendant has declined to attend his sentence, while he sits in the cells below, but I will address these remarks to him so when he has the courage to read them he will understand why the court has reached the conclusion it has.”

She branded Younis an “arch-deceiver”, calling him a “heartless man and a narcissist”.

“You have preyed upon the vulnerable with superficial charm,” the judge said.

“You have been convicted by the strong prosecution case. Not only were the bodies of two women found in your home, hidden in a locked freezer purchased for that purpose, they showed signs of violence which you failed to explain.”

The judge said Younis had “robbed” his victims of “all happiness in life and dignity in death,” and said: “You have no remorse.”