A Moroccan who stabbed his Italian wife and mother-in-law to death as the couple’s children watched in horror has been jailed for life.

Jawad Hicham, 38, killed his wife Sara Ruschi, 35, and his mother-in-law, Brunetta Ridolfi, 76, in Arezzo, in the Italian region of Tuscany on the night of 13th April.

According to reports, during the night of the murder, Sara and Hicham exchanged text messages as they were sleeping in different rooms due to an unofficial separation.

After the last text message Sara had sent him at 12:52am, he stabbed her with 23 stab wounds and also killed Brunetta as she was trying to protect her daughter.

Even more shockingly, the couple’s two children, a 16-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter were watching as their father committed the murder.

The son was the one who first called the police at 12:57am, and after him, Hicham also called them, saying: “I committed a huge crime.”

When the police arrived, Sara was still alive, but died a short while later in hospital, while her mother had died on the spot.

During the trial, the prosecutor had asked for life imprisonment and six months of daytime solitary confinement for the suspect.

And now, the Arezzo court sentenced Hicham to life in prison and a year of daytime solitary confinement in prison on 2nd December.

He was also sentenced to pay compensation to his children, with a provisional amount of EUR 200,000 (GBP 171,388) to the son and EUR 250,000 (GBP 214,235) to the daughter.

The couple’s now-17-year-old son, who has not been named, told local media: “I was worried they would have given him a lower sentence, maybe of a few years, but finally what we had hoped for during these months they have finally done.”

The victims’ other relatives said after the verdict: “Justice has been done.”

Hicham will be serving his sentence in Prato prison, according to local media.