Two brothers who raped two women at gunpoint have been given hefty jail sentences.

Ali Deen (24) and Basiru Deen (22) barged their way into the home of the women, who were Hungarian escorts, after posing as potential customers.

The women were both raped by Basiru, of Humberstone Road, Leicester, and a third unidentified man, while Ali stood holding a gun to their heads.

Ali, of Quedgeley Court, Ebley Close, Peckham, south east London, then covered their heads with sheets, threatened to shoot them and laughed when they begged for their lives.

They then ransacked the flat.

Both men denied the charges against them, but were found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey in London.

Ali was convicted of two counts of robbery, two counts of aiding and abetting rape and one count of possession of an imitation firearm.

Basiru was convicted of two counts of rape and two counts of robbery.

Judge Brian O'Neill jailed Ali Deen for 22 years and his younger brother for 20 years, and put both on the sex offender register for life.

He told the court: "Given it was three armed men against two defenceless and vulnerable women, this was nothing less than gratuitous sexual violence designed to humiliate and terrify two victims."

The two brothers and their unknown accomplice turned up at the victims' home in Lewisham in the early hours of 19 January last year.

Prosecutor Amanda Hamilton told the court: "One was working as an escort. She had made contact with a man and expected him to come round.

"She looked through the spy hole and saw one man, but when she opened the door two other men pushed their way inside."

Ali grabbed one of the women by the throat and shoved her against a wall. Basiru punched the other woman in the face and demanded money.

The men ransacked the flat while the women sat naked and crying in the living room.

"At one point, Ali put a sheet and a T-shirt over their heads and threatened to shoot them," said Ms Hamilton.

Judge O'Neill said Ali was the ringleader. He said: "He planned this, led this and, in all probability, if it had not been for him, his younger brother would not be here today.

The judge told both brothers: "You targeted them because they were prostitutes, likely to have a large amount of cash and because you thought due to their chosen work and way of life they may not report the matter to police."

In a victim impact statement, one of the women said: "There was a gun held to me the whole time, I thought they were going to kill me."

Ali Deen was on licence at the time of the raid, having been free from prison for less than six months.

He was jailed for four years in March 2011 for robbery and possession of an imitation firearm, and received a five-year term in August the same year for an aggravated burglary.

Speaking after the hearing, Acting Detective Inspector Jon Summers said: "I cannot rule out that Ali and Basiru Deen may have committed similar crimes of this nature."