The sentences handed down to the brutal murderers of two French students will not be referred to the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General said yesterday.

The sentences handed down to the brutal murderers of two French students will not be referred to the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General said yesterday.

Baroness Scotland said that the life terms given to Dano Sonnex and Nigel Farmer, with minimum sentences of 35 and 40 years, were not unduly lenient.

The two men were jailed for the "sadistic" murders in June last year of Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez in New Cross, southeast London.

The decision will be extremely disappointing for the families of the two students, who wanted their killers to be given "whole life" terms - meaning that they would die in prison.

Lady Scotland said there was "no prospect" that the Court of Appeal would increase the terms.

She said: "These sadistic murders were truly appalling and those closest to the victims have my deepest sympathy. In handing down life sentences, the judge acknowledged that he had the option of imposing a whole life tariff', meaning an offender can never be released, but these sentences are rarely used.

"However, as he explained that he was not going to use this sanction, my remit was to look at whether the very lengthy minimum periods of imprisonment could instead be described as unreasonable and unduly lenient. Having taken account of all relevant papers in the case - including the statements of both families and the impact the murders have had on them - I believe the sentences could not be said to fall outside the proper range and that there is no prospect that the Court of Appeal would increase them.

"Even after the minimum terms are served, the offenders will remain in prison unless and until the parole board judges them safe to be released on licence. The judge felt this time may well never come."

Mr Ferez's mother, Francoise Villement, 46, said: "We hoped that the sentence would be longer. It's not right.

"This won't change anything for me because nothing can bring back my son, but it was important that the sentence be longer in order to send a message to society.

"For society's sake, it's a shame."

Mr Bonomo's mother, Lydie Bonomo, 53, said: "I'd have preferred them to have received a more final sentence, but I'm not surprised by this. I thought it would be the case."