A 37-YEAR-OLD Bradford man is behind bars awaiting life sentences after pleading guilty to double murder.

A High Court Judge will determine the minimum term Austin Brayford will spend in prison for the brutal slaying of Helen Dawson and Ivor Spratek, whose bodies were found in a flat in Little Horton, Bradford, on Sunday, July 13.

Brayford delivered his Guilty pleas to both murders in a loud and clear voice from the secure dock at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

Bearded and bespectacled, he wore a dark-coloured, short sleeved casual shirt and sat with arms folded during the short hearing.

He was taken back down to the cells by two dock officers and will remain in jail until he is sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on October 8.

Brayford's barrister, Andrew Stubbs QC, said the defendant could not be sentenced without additional material being provided to the court.

Prosecutor Mark McKone told the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas QC, the Crown was still "chasing" the pathologist's reports into the deaths.

An inquest last month was told that Miss Dawson, 48, of Cornwall Place, Manningham, Bradford, died from asphyxia and multiple stab wounds and Mr Spratek, 40, a Czech national, of Sawrey Place, Little Horton, had a fatal head injury.

They were confirmed dead at the scene after police officers were called to the address.

Miss Dawson's body was identified by her daughter and Mr Spratek's sister flew to the UK from the Czech Republic to identify him.

As a result of the tragedy, Neighbourhood Police Teams organised 'reassurance patrols' to allay the fears of frightened residents.

Brayford, who also lived in Sawrey Place, was quickly arrested and remanded in custody, then charged with double murder.

Judge Thomas asked the probation service to look into Brayford's criminal record and their dealings with him over the years.

His violent and anti-social behaviour had led to him being ordered to undertake supervision on two previous occasions.

Six months before the murders Brayford was given a suspended jail sentence by magistrates for racially abusing and threatening a neighbour.

In 2006, he was imprisoned for three years by a judge who branded him "extremely unpleasant and violent".

Three days after being made the subject of a community order for whipping his partner with the buckle end of his belt, he injured her with a ballpoint pen. He later bit her on the finger and headbutted the window of a police car, smashing it.

Brayford was due to stand trial for the murders on December 15 but that date was vacated when his defence team indicated that he was pleading guilty.