Parents who tortured their defenceless three-year-old before leaving her to choke to death on her own vomit while tied up in a cellar have been given life in prison.

Sascha and Maja Wensing, both 40, were sentenced to life after the body of their daughter Lea was found in Germany's Rhine-Herne canal close to their apartment in Dinslaken.

Her horrific ordeal took place last October when the parents decided to lock Lea in the basement of their apartment building.

They then embarked upon a regimen of torture that lasted for six days. 

Shocking messages between the pair revealed during court proceedings showed how the Wensings hated their daughter and conspired to kill her.

Sascha Wensing is pictured. The father threw the body of his daughter Lea, three, in the Rhine-Herne Canal after she died in the basement of their apartment in Dinslaken, Germany in October 2023

Maja Wensing is pictured. Messages between the pair revealed during court proceedings showed how the Wensings hated their daughter and conspired to kill her

'The stupid b**** is taking up our time. She makes me angry, she ruined everything. I can't stand her anymore,' a message from Maja read. 

The father responded: 'I've taped her again, the dummy has bands on her legs and can't move. She's a huge a***hole.'

They went on to describe in detail how they had taped their daughter's mouth shut, knowing that she would likely suffer an agonisingly slow and painful death as she had begun to choke on her own vomit. 

'Glue her mouth and go out,' the mother implored.  

Sascha then replied: 'We have symptoms of suffocation... I'm looking forward to tomorrow.'

Having read out a series of deplorable messages between the evil parents, prosecutor Jill McCuller told the court: 'The defendants hated their daughter and treated her inhumanely. 

'The victim suffered irrepressible fear of death several times (during her ordeal). Her death was highly traumatic - she was found with vomit in every alveoli of her lungs.'

Lea suffered an agonisingly slow and painful death, choking on her own vomit with her mouth taped shut

Sascha and Maja Wensing hide their faces during a court hearing 

Once little Lea had finally choked to death, her father dumped her body in the canal.

He then went to the police himself, but reported the death as an accident according to German press. 

The Oberhausen emergency services were forced to dispatch a dive team to recover Lea's body, after which a post-mortem examination revealed clear signs of torture and abuse - as well as the puke clogging her lungs. 

Delivering the verdict in Duisburg regional court, the judge did not hold back in their condemnation of the evil parents.

'This act was particularly terrible, which is why only the maximum sentence was considered.' 

The perpetrators will now spend at least 25 years each behind bars.