An Islamic State sympathiser who viciously murdered his wife before disemboweling her in front of their children is facing life in jail without parole after confessing to the crime in an Australian court.

The man, who cannot be named to protect his children, faced the Supreme Court in the state of Victoria on Friday for a pre-sentence hearing. The 36-year-old had pleaded guilty in September to murdering his wife before dismembering her body as the couple’s children were forced to watch at their home in June 2016, according to Nine News.

An autopsy revealed the woman died of blood loss, with multiple wounds to her face and genitals. Her right eye was gouged out in what is believed to be inspired by the Islamist one-eyed antichrist Dajjal, and two of her fingers were severed while she was still alive.

Prosecutor Sharn Coombes said the couple’s children – aged two, four and six at the time – saw their father repeatedly attack their mother with a knife.

“The accused set upon a prolonged and vicious attack on his wife, murdering her in front of their three children,” she told the court. “The two oldest children described their father having ‘slaughtered’ their mother in front of them.”

According to the Herald-Sun newspaper, in his police interview, when an officer said it was one of the worst cases he had come across, the accused man replied: “Grow a gut for it as in the Middle East it’s normal.”

Told that his family did not condone this behaviour, he said: “F— them, f— everyone. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

When it was suggested he had put his children through hell, he said: “If they’ve gone through hell, they’ll grow up to be stronger.”

The court heard that before the attack the accused had a long history of physical and mental abuse in the marital home. He refused to let his wife to speak freely and refused to send the children to school. He also wanted them to only speak Lebanese, learn the Koran, and learn about guns and swords, war and jihad.

The Crown prosectutor added that the man’s extreme interpretation of Islam – including an interest in jihad and desire to fight in Syria – “culminated in this vicious and cruel murder.”