Belgian (17) gets life for racist killings

A Belgian teenager who targeted foreigners on a shooting rampage last year was jailed for life today.

A Belgian teenager who targeted foreigners on a shooting rampage last year was jailed for life today.

Hans Van Themsche (19) was charged with killing a two-year-old white girl and her Malian nanny and attempting to kill a Turkish woman in Antwerp in May 2006 before a policeman shot him.

A jury found him guilty on all counts late on Wednesday and said he had been motivated by racism. Van Themsche was the first person in Belgium to be convicted on a new charge of racially motivated murder

Those found guilty of murder face a sentence of three years to life, and for attempted murder of three to 30 years. A racist motive increases the minimum in each case to five years.

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Van Themsche admitted wanting to kill foreigners, and members of his family belonged to the far-right Vlaams Belang party, whose stronghold is the port city of Antwerp.