Man hid inside bed after hotel murders

A hotel receptionist was found guilty of murdering two colleagues and hiding inside a bed containing one of the bodies.

Attila Ban, 32, had claimed diminished responsibility but was found guilty of two counts of murder at the Old Bailey.

He faces two life terms but sentencing was adjourned to a later date for Ban’s barrister to appear.

The bodies of fellow receptionists Tibor Vass and Alice Adams, both 20, were found in Ban’s staff accommodation at the hotel where they worked at Heathrow airport in August last year. Bann evaded police, crime scene investigators and a pathologist for two days after crawling into the divan bed where he had laid Mr Vass’s body on top.

After the bodies were moved, he crawled out and cut his wrists and neck in an unsuccessful suicide bid before he was found.

All three worked at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel where openly gay Ban had been named Employee of the Year 2010.

Ms Adams, of Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, had only been working there for three weeks.

Mr Vass was a Hungarian student who was about to return home. Fellow Hungarian Ban had developed a crush on him and was devastated by the news even though Mr Vass was heterosexual and did not return his feelings.

Police were called after Ban updated his Facebook wall saying: “I would like to wake up from this nightmare” and all three failed to turn up for work.

They found Mr Vass naked on the double bed with two stab wounds. On the living-room floor, they found Ms Adams. She was dressed and had been stabbed 22 times.

A search was made for Ban at the cordoned-off flat, including in the attic, but there was no trace until he crawled out and attempted suicide.

Richard Whittam, QC, prosecuting, said: “Attila Ban was found naked on the single bed. He had wounds to his wrists, forearm and neck.

“It became apparent that he had been hiding in the divan base of the double bed. He must have been there throughout the attendance of the pathologist, the removal of the bodies and the examination of the scene by crime-scene examiners.

“He had the presence of mind to have concealed himself effectively and to remain undetected throughout the time they were on the premises.”

Detective Inspector John Finch said outside court that police had not been negligent for not looking under the bed.

He said crime-scene examiners would lose crucial forensic evidence if they lifted up beds looking for people who were not there.

Ban had made himself a bolt-hole under the double bed by taking water and his mobile phone with him to update his Facebook page. He had also cut a small slit in the side of the mattress so he could see the comings and goings outside.