A Blackheath teenager has pleaded not guilty to the murders of two sisters in an unprovoked and random attack in a park.

Danyal Hussein, 19, allegedly stabbed Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, multiple times in the early hours of Saturday June 6 last year.

Social worker Ms Henry, from Brent in north-west London, and photographer Ms Smallman, from Harrow in north-west London, had met friends to celebrate Ms Henry’s birthday.

Their bodies were found together in Fryent Country Park in Wembley, north-west London, the next day.

Hussein, of Guy Barnett Grove, was arrested at his home on July 1 and charged with double murder and possessing a knife.

At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday attended by members of the victims’ family, Hussein pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Hussein, who is in custody, will go on trial before Mrs Justice Whipple from June 7.

The Old Bailey trial is due to go on for up to three weeks.