A man accused of stabbing his mother and sister to death in their Golders Green home has been deemed unfit to stand trial.

Joshua Cohen, 28, of Barnet, is charged with killing Louise Cohen, 66, and Hannah Cohen, 33, who ran the Beigel Bake business in Brick Lane.

The women were pronounced dead at their home in Golders Green, north London, on August 11 last year.

Cohen was arrested in nearby Golders Hill Park the following day and charged with two counts of murder.

He attended the Old Bailey for a hearing before Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC.

Members of the defendant’s family sat in court as the judge ruled that he was unfit to plead.

Judge Hilliard told jurors that the defendant could not stand trial due to mental illness.

Their task would not be to decide on whether he was guilty of any offence, but if he did the act in question – caused the unlawful death of two people, he said.

The jury was sworn in to hear the trial of issue.

Court reporting by Press Association