A man has been charged with the murders of two people who were stabbed to death within hours in central London. Lee Peacock, 49, was charged with the murders of Sharon Pickles and Clinton Ashmore in Westminster, the Metropolitan police said. The force launched a double murder investigation after officers found the body of Pickles, 45, at a property in Ashbridge Street at 9.30pm on 19 August. Emergency services were then called to Jerome Crescent, just under half a mile away, the following day, where they found Ashmore, 59, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Postmortem examinations confirmed both had died of a stab wound to the neck. Peacock was remanded in custody and is expected to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Monday. He was arrested at a London hospital on Thursday in connection with the deaths. Medics were treating him for what police described as “life-threatening” injuries that were believed to be self-inflicted. Officers found him on a canal boat in Ealing on Wednesday evening, the Met said. Paramedics from the London ambulance service and the London air ambulance were called to the scene near Ferrymead Avenue before Peacock was taken to hospital. The Met said its directorate of professional standards had been informed about Peacock’s injuries and that the incident had been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which had indicated it would conduct an independent investigation.