Parent killer was on bail for knife chase

A convicted rapist who killed his parents and was then found dead had been arrested for chasing a stranger with a knife days before, an inquest has heard.

Ashraf Amrani, 30, was on bail when his body was discovered on a first-floor roof in Westbourne Park Road, west London, on February 13 2015.

When police went to inform his parents the following day, Hassan, 72, and Zohra, 59, they were found dead at their flat, which was on the same street.

An inquest into the deaths at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, heard that police found Hassan Amrani fully clothed in a bath in the upstairs of the flat with a stab wound to his stomach, while his wife was found lifeless in the foetal position in a downstairs bathroom.

Coroner Bernard Richmond QC said in his opening: “There is no suggestion that anyone other than Ashraf Amrani is responsible for the killings.”

On February 10 2015, Amrani had been arrested on suspicion of affray, having reportedly pursued a stranger through the street with a large knife, the court heard, but was taken to St Mary’s Hospital after falling ill from having taken ecstasy.

He was released on street bail — when a suspect is bailed without being taken to a police station — and left hospital the following day.