, Nov. 7 -- A Kenyan court has sentenced self-proclaimed pastor and doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for orchestrating the deaths of 191 people, most of them children, by forcing his followers to starve themselves and their children to death in the belief that they would meet Jesus.

Mackenzie was convicted alongside 28 other members of his cult for their roles in the killings, which have been described as one of the deadliest cases of cult-related deaths in the world, reports BBC.

Delivering the sentence, Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the primary responsibility for directing his followers to undertake deadly fasting.

She described the punishment as justified and necessary to send a strong message ...