Alex W. who stabbed to death Marwa ElSherbiny as she gave evidence against him in court was today given Germany’s highest possible sentence for murder - Life in  jail with no chance of early parole.

“We find you bear a particularly heavy burden of guilt,” said Judge Birgit Wiegand. The phrase is German legal language indicating that Mr W. will not be considered for early release.

There were alerts on state television as news broke that her murderer had been sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of an early release.