A Sri Lankan court on Friday sentenced former Police Chief Pujith Jayasundara to death after convicting him of criminal negligence for failing to prevent the Islamic State-inspired Easter Sunday bomb attacks in 2019 that killed more than 260 people.

Although sentenced to death, Jayasundara is unlikely to be executed as Sri Lanka has maintained an informal moratorium on capital punishment since 1976, meaning death sentences are generally commuted to life imprisonment. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake supports retaining the moratorium.

The coordinated bombings targeted three churches- two Catholic and one Protestant- and three tourist hotels, killing more than 260 people, including 42 foreign nationals. A parliamentary committee investigating the attacks found that police and intelligence officials failed to act despite receiving repeated intelligence warnings before the bombings.

Jayasundara may appeal Friday's verdict delivered by a three-member High Court bench.

The court was also scheduled to issue a verdict later Friday on former Defense Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, who faces the same charge.

Authorities blamed two Sri Lanka-based Islamic militant groups for carrying out the attacks. All suspects believed to have directly participated are dead, while separate trials are continuing for individuals accused of links to the perpetrators.

Sri Lanka's Catholic Church has maintained that those identified so far were not the masterminds behind the Easter Sunday attacks, alleging that a broader conspiracy was behind the bombings.