A court in the German city of Aachen has sentenced an 88-year-old former SS guard to life imprisonment for killings committed during the Second World War.

The court found Heinrich Boere guilty of gunning down three Dutch civilians in 1944, in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

Boere was a member of the SS and the murders were in retaliation for attacks committed by the Dutch Resistance. He has admitted to the killings on several occasions.

A Dutch court sentenced him to death in 1949, a sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment. He escaped and has been living in Germany since 1954.

Heinrich Boere's lawyers have announced that he plans to appeal against the verdict and that he will not serve any time in prison until the appeal has been heard, which could take years.