GERMANY sentenced anti-semitic murderer Stephan Balliet to life in prison today after a five-month trial.

Balliet was convicted of two counts of murder and 51 counts of attempted murder for his actions on October 9, 2019, when he attacked a synagogue in the city of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, broadcasting himself live on a gaming site.

After his attempt to shoot open the synagogue’s doors failed he shot and killed Jana Lange, a passing woman who challenged him over the noise he was making, and then went to a kebab shop and killed a construction worker named as Kevin S.

The murderer showed no remorse in court for what prosecutor Kai Lohse called “one of the most repulsive anti-semitic acts since World War II” and used the trial to defend his anti-semitic views and deny the Holocaust.

He apologised for killing Ms Lange, saying he “didn’t want to kill whites.”

He cited the murder of 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in an Islamophobic killing spree by Australian Brenton Tarrant as an inspiration for his actions.

Presiding Judge Usrula Mertens said he was guilty of a “cowardly attack” and criticised his family.

Their refusal to testify meant she could not blame them for failing to act to prevent his crimes, she said, but she added that “no-one tried to disabuse him of his extremist worldview.”

Mr Balliet lived with his mother and apparently spent long periods browsing extremist material online.

He has been judged “seriously culpable,” meaning he will not be eligible for parole after 15 years as is the case with most life sentences. 

Germany’s Council of Jews leader Josef Schuster said the verdict “makes clear that murderous hatred of Jews meets with no tolerance.”

Germany has been plagued with far-right terror scares this year, with the Defence Ministry disbanding its elite KSK special forces military unit after officers were linked to neonazi activity and some soldiers were found to have secreted private stashes of explosives and ammunition.

At the start of the month house raids following the ban on neonazi group WolfsBrigade 44 found a crossbow, knives and machetes.