Convicted rapist Derek Brown, 48, formerly of Grizedale Crescent in Ribbleton, lured the women from Whitechapel to his south London flat, where he killed and dismembered them before dumping their bodies.

The remains of Chinese DVD seller Xiao Mei Guo, 29, and 24-year-old prostitute Bonnie Barrett, who disappeared within three weeks of each other, have never been found.

Detectives believe he has raped at least six women and sexually assaulted another half-a-dozen. He is also being linked to an unsolved murder in the north of England.

Police discovered Brown had been reading up on some of Britain's most notorious serial killers just weeks earlier and even made the sickening boast to a friend: "You will hear of me."

Brown, a delivery driver, tried to explain away the evidence against him by claiming he knew both women and had sex with them at his flat.

He was convicted of both murders by an Old Bailey jury on Friday after less than three hours of deliberation.

Miss Barrett's mother, Jackie Summerford, 49, from Walworth in south London, and sister Kellie cheered and then collapsed in tears as the verdicts were returned.

Mrs Guo's husband, Jin, sobbed in court as the verdict was returned.

>> Vote in our latest web poll