A builder who murdered a mum-of-two and burnt her remains in an oil drum has been jailed for life.

Mark Brown killed sex workers Alexandra Morgan, 34, from Sissinghurst, and Leah Ware, 33, from Hastings, just six months apart last year.

Today the 41-year-old was jailed for life in his absence, after he refused to attend Hove Crown Court.

Judge Mr Justice Hilliard gave him two life sentences with a minimum term of 49 years, less 380 days already spent on remand, to be served concurrently.

Ms Morgan was last seen at a petrol station in Cranbrook filling up her white Mini Cooper after arranging to meet Brown, of St Leonards, East Sussex.

Brown had hired her services as a client and promised her a £100,000 sum for webcam work at a hotel in Brighton.

In December, after a six-week trial, the part-time security guard was found guilty of murdering Ms Morgan in November and Ms Ware in May of the same year.

Brown had admitted to police he burnt the Kent mum's body but claimed she had slipped and fell on a piece of mechanical equipment in his workshop before hitting her head.

Ms Morgan's remains - including a tooth and bone fragments - were found at a building site in Sevenoaks where Brown had worked.

The part-time security guard said he decided to cover the whole thing up and dispose of her in a makeshift incinerator rather than call medics as he feared he wouldn’t be believed.

He told jurors: "I had a dead escort on my workshop floor, what would it look like? How would I prove she had an accident?"

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court Brown had told a “great edifice of lies” to cover up his actions.

Mr Atkinson said: “Alex Morgan had found out, as she had feared, the promise of £100,000 was simply too good to be true.

“The result of deliberate action at a time when the defendant was alone with them and in each case wanted them to be dead and took the necessary steps, as he so often did, to get what he wanted.”

Six months prior Brown had been having an affair with Ms Leah Ware, a mum-of-three who he had met through the same Adultwork website for sex workers.

The pair had an "on-off" relationship last from 2018 until 2021 and when he took the stand Brown gave "differing accounts" as to where Ms Ware was after her sudden disappearance on May 7, 2021.

He claimed she had been "sectioned", sent to a "mental hospital" or had "killed herself". Her body has never been found.

A jury of ten men and two women took 11 hours to convict Brown at Hove Crown Court.

"All women have the right to be safe and to live their lives without fear of violence..."

Libby Clark from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This is a shocking and heart-breaking case of the murder of two women - Alex Morgan and Leah Ware. Brown showed utter cruelty and contempt for his victims, and his actions have left two families devastated by their loss.

“By never accepting responsibility, Brown made the families go through the ordeal of a trial, where the work of our prosecution team unpicked Brown’s deceit, including covering up Leah’s death, resulting in his conviction.

“We know nothing can make up for the loss so keenly felt by both families, but hope today’s sentence brings some comfort, as our thoughts remain with them.”

Kate Brown, chief Crown prosecutor for CPS South East, added: “Violence against women and girls is a blight on our society, and one the CPS is determined to eradicate.

“All women have the right to be safe and to live their lives without fear of violence.

“Our commitment to bringing perpetrators to justice is unwavering, as we continue to work alongside our criminal justice partners to tackle these horrific crimes.”

Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, added: "We hope the conviction and sentence of Mark Brown will bring some sense of justice to the families of both Alex and Leah, and allow them to come to terms with the tragic loss of their loved ones.

"Even though the court case has concluded, we are still committed to following-up all viable lines of enquiry that may help us locate Leah’s body and give her family some of the answers they so desperately want and deserve."