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A drug addict killed his dealer and another man with a hammer in King’s Cross before starting a fire to cover his tracks, a court has heard.

Blood spattered the walls of a flat in Stelfox House, Penton Rise, after Paul O’Shea brutally attacked Othamane Majdouline and Leandro Da Silva, a jury at the Old Bailey was told on Monday.

O’Shea, 37, denies two counts of murder and one of arson.

London Fire Brigade was called to the flat just after 7pm on January 2 after neighbours raised the alarm.

Firefighters discovered two men lying dead on sofas in the lounge after tackling the blaze.

A post-mortem examination revealed both men died of head injuries, likely to have been caused by a hammer.

Opening the case, prosecuting barrister Mark Fenhalls QC said: “Paul O’Shea killed two men and then set fire to some of the furniture in the flat where they were killed in an attempt, we say, to cover his tracks.”

No smoke was found in the lungs of Mr Majdouline, a 51-year-old Moroccan national who lived in the flat, or Mr Da Silva.

“The physical evidence is that both men were dead before the fire was set,” Mr Fenhalls said.

The blaze was probably started deliberately with a naked flame, according to fire experts.

The court was told that Mr Majdouline was a low-level drug dealer known as Ozzy and that O’Shea had gone to buy drugs from him. Mr Da Silva, 47, of Six Acres estate, Finsbury Park, often spent time at the flat, which was known to the police as a dealing hotspot.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of O’Shea, who was a user of crack cocaine and heroin, entering the third-floor flat at about 5.30pm. He left around 15 minutes later, heading towards Northdown Street, half a mile away, where he was living at the time.

O’Shea was then caught on street CCTV heading back to the flat with a carrier bag just after 6.10pm. He was seen leaving the flat again just before 7pm, still clutching the carrier bag. “We say by this time he has killed the two men in the flat,” Mr Fenhalls said.

O’Shea was arrested three days later with a piece of paper with a series of phone numbers on it, including Mr Majdouline’s, the jury was told.