Nikolas Cruz, 24, will be formally sentenced on Tuesday 1 November, but the judge will not be able to depart from a jury’s recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole, CNN reports.

He last year pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in relation to the school shooting, in which 14 students and three staff members were killed and 17 others were injured.

Many of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students killed in the attack were just 14 years old, while others were aged 15, 16, 17 and 18.

Florida’s Republican Govenor, Ron DeSantis, was among those who criticised the jury’s decision, saying afterwards: “I was very disappointed to see that. I’m also disappointed that we’re four and a half years after these killings, and we’re just now getting this.”