Bombers who killed three of Scotland's richest man's children in Sri Lanka jailed

A group of 15 bombers who killed three of Scotland’s richest man’s children have been jailed for 200 years in prison each.

A Sri Lankan court convicted the group over their involvement in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 260 people.

15 men were sentenced to between 200 and 260 years in prison, meaning they will spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

Three of those killed included Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen’s children, as the family were holidaying there at the time of the attack.

Mr Povlsen and his wife Anne lost five-year-old Alfred, Agnes, 12, and Alma, 15, in the attack. Their daughter Astrid survived the blasts.

The 53-year-old, the CEO of the international retail clothing chain Bestseller and the largest shareholder in ASOS, was named Scotland’s richest man in May this year for the fifth year running.

The attacks on April 21, 2019, targeted three churches and three hotels across the island nation during Easter services and celebrations.

The Islamic State group-inspired bombings, among the deadliest in Sri Lanka’s history, killed 42 foreigners and devastated communities across the country.

In 2021, authorities filed 23,270 charges against 24 suspects accused of planning or inspiring the attacks.

The charges included murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism and firearms and explosives offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

None of those believed to have directly participated in the attacks are alive.

Sri Lanka has not carried out executions since 1976, meaning death sentences typically result in life imprisonment.

Two Sri Lanka-based Islamic militant groups were accused of carrying out the bombings.

Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has claimed, without providing evidence, that those identified so far as perpetrators are not the masterminds behind the bombings, and that there was a bigger conspiracy behind the attacks.

In July, a former police chief and a former senior defence ministry official were also sentenced to death for failing to act promptly on foreign intelligence warnings of possible attacks.

The three-judge High Court panel also ordered that the convicted men’s property be confiscated.

The verdict was delivered after a lengthy trial that spanned nearly five years.