A brutal killer has been jailed for life for murdering Sussex grandmother Marie Harding and three other victims.

Daniel Gonzalez, who also tried to kill two other people, was given six life sentences and was told that in his case, "life should mean life".

Mrs Harding's husband Jim last night welcomed the court's decision.

He said: "I'm very pleased at the sentence, the judge has done the right thing.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the police for everything they have done for me and for my family."

His daughter Julie Harris issued a statement on Thursday following Gonzales's conviction, which said: "We are pleased the right result has come out of this terrible situation.

"Together with the other families, we have waited a long time for this outcome and our faith in British justice has been restored."

Gonzalez, 25, knifed to death 73-year-old Mrs Harding, a Brighton and Hove Albion ticket seller from Highdown, Southwick. He showed no emotion as Judge Ann Goddard handed down his sentence.

A relative of one of his victims clapped and shouted "goodbye" from the public gallery as he was led to the cells.

Gonzalez, who wanted to become a serial killer, is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

He will start his sentence at Broadmoor maximum security hospital, where he is considered one of their most dangerous patients.

He slashed Mrs Harding's throat and stabbed her in the back as she walked home on September 15 as he began his campaign to butcher "at least ten people".

The judge told Gonzalez he had brought "unspeakable grief to the lives of the families of those you killed".

She said: "You killed four people on three occasions. You chose your victims because they were vulnerable."

The judge said Gonzalez was no doubt affected by drugs at the time.

The two people who survived have been scarred "as are the families of those you killed as your actions have put fear into their lives".

The judge made whole life orders on each of the murder sentences. On the attempted murder offences, she said there would be no provisions for early release because of their seriousness "and the danger you pose".

As Gonzalez started his sentence, he told a psychiatrist he still had time on his side, saying "I think I will be out in eight to ten years".

His ambition was to become a serial killer like Freddy Krueger from the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street.

On Thursday, after 90 minutes deliberation, a jury decided he was a cold-blooded murderer and not suffering from mental illness as he claimed.

He was convicted of murdering grandmother-of-two Mrs Harding; pub landlord Kevin Molloy, 46, in Tottenham, north London; and Derek Robinson, 76, and his wife Jean, 68, from Highgate, north London.

Weeks before the killings, he was found running naked through the streets of Woking, Surrey, where he lived with his mother.

He had written letters to doctors pleading for help and an inquiry has been opened into how he was left free to butcher four people.

After his arrest, he tried to convince psychiatrists that voices had commanded him to kill.

Gonzalez's defence lawyers accepted he killed each of his victims.

But they claimed he was suffering from auditory hallucinations - voices commanding him to kill - which diminished his responsibility in law and meant he was guilty of manslaughter and not murder.

The prosecution agreed he had a personality disorder but not that he was suffering from schizophrenia.

Gonzalez denied murder but admitted the attempted murder of the two people he attacked.