MOSCOW, October 25 (RAPSI) – Confessed killer Pavlo Lapshyn has received a life sentence for murder in connection with a series of racially-motivated crimes committed in Britain since the 25-year-old Ukrainian student’s arrival in the country in April, the West Midlands Police Department tweeted Friday.

The Twitter feed added that he would serve a minimum of 40 years before release could be considered, and that he had also been sentenced to 12 years for offenses under the Explosives Substances Act, and 12 years under the Terrorism Act. The West Midlands Police Department tweeted: “All sentences are to run concurrently meaning Lapshyn will serve a minimum of 40 years in prison.”

London’s Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, was evacuated Friday afternoon amid reports that a suspicious item had been discovered in the court where Lapshyn' sentencing was set to take place, according to an Express and Star report.

According to a release issued by the West Midlands Police on Monday, Lapshyn – a 25-year-old Ukrainian student – pleaded guilty to having stabbed to death an 82-year-old man, and to various efforts to place explosives in front of or near mosques.

The police statement explains that Lapshyn had arrived in Britain in April after having won a work-placement contest.

The release explains: “At London’s Old Bailey today (Mon 21 Oct) the 25-year-old admitted fatally stabbing Mr Mohammed Saleem as he returned from evening prayers in Small Heath on April 29 – and going on to plant improvised explosive devices near mosques in Walsall, Wolverhampton and Tipton. The court heard how the self-confessed racist – from Dnipropetrovesk but in the UK on a year-long visa – would undoubtedly have gone on to ramp-up his bombing campaign had the manhunt not traced him to placement host company Delcam.”

Lapshyn was referred to in the police statement as a competent bomb-maker.

As the sentence approached, the West Midlands Police Department tweeted that the judge had described Lapshyn’s purpose as having been “to commit a terrorist attack and he intended for mosque goers to be hurt.”