A southern Russian court on Friday said the sole surviving Beslan school attacker deserved the death penalty, but sentenced him to life in prison because of the country's moratorium on capital punishment.

Classmates and relatives cry at the grave of a schoolboy killed during the Beslan siege. A southern Russian court on Friday said the sole surviving Beslan school attacker deserved the death penalty, but sentenced him to life in prison. [AFP]

Nur-Pashi Kulayev was found guilty of taking hostages, named responsible for the deaths of 330 people and inflicting material damage worth 34 million rubles (US$1.3 million, euro1 million).

Judge Tamerlan Aguzarov said that Kulayev had detonated a bomb that had dealt bodily harm to hostages and government troops. The judge said 16 hostages whom the militants executed on the first day of the assault had died in part due to Kulayev's actions.

Mothers of the victims, wearing mourning black, crowded the courtroom on Friday, the eighth day of the verdict reading, to hear the sentence. Some held banners reading, "There is no forgiveness of the authorities who let Beslan happen," and photos of tanks and dead children.

Survivors and victims' relatives also claim many deaths occurred because troops fired at the school from tanks and flame-throwers, sparking a fire that caused the roof to collapse over many wounded.