A teenager who stabbed three young girls to death during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England, was sentenced Thursday to more than 50 years in prison for what a judge called “the most extreme, shocking and exceptionally serious crime “.
Judge Julian Goose said Axel Rudakubana, 18, “wanted to attempt to carry out a massacre of innocent and happy young girls”.
Goose said he could not impose a sentence of life in prison without parole because Rudakubana was under 18 when he committed the crime.
But the judge said he must serve 52 years, less six months in custody, before he is eligible for parole, and “it is likely he will never be released.”
Rudakubana was 17 when he attacked the children in the seaside town of Southport in July, killing 9-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and 6-year-old Bebe King. He injured eight other girls, aged between seven and 13, as well as teacher Leanne Lucas and John. Hayes, a local businessman who intervened.
Darren Staples/AP
The attack shocked the country and triggered both street violence and introspection. The government announced a public inquiry into how the system failed to stop the killer, who had been referred to authorities several times because of his obsession with violence.
Rudakubana faces three counts of murder, 10 of attempted murder and additional charges of possession of a knife, ricin poison and an Al-Qaeda manual. On Monday, he unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty on all charges.
But he was not present in court to hear the sentence handed down Thursday.
Hours earlier, he had been taken to the dock at Liverpool Crown Court in northwest England, dressed in a gray prison tracksuit. But as prosecutors began presenting the evidence, Rudakubana interrupted them by shouting that he felt bad and wanted to see a paramedic.
Goose ordered the defendant removed as he continued to scream. One person in the courtroom shouted “Coward!” because Rudakubana was eliminated.
The hearing continued without him.
Elizabeth Cook/AP
Prosecutor Deanna Heer described how the attack happened on the first day of summer vacation, when 26 little girls were “gathered around tables, making bracelets and singing Taylor Swift songs.”
Rudakubana, armed with a large knife, entered and began stabbing the girls and their teacher.
The court was shown video of the suspect arriving at Hart Space by taxi and entering the building. Within seconds, screams erupted and children ran outside in panic, some of them injured. A young girl managed to get through the door, but was pulled back inside by the attacker. She was stabbed 32 times but survived.
Gasps and sobs could be heard in court as the videos were played.
Heer said two of the dead children “suffered particularly gruesome injuries that are difficult to explain as anything other than sadistic in nature.” One of the deceased girls had 122 injuries, while another suffered 85.
The prosecutor said Rudakubana had “a long-standing obsession with violence, murder and genocide”.
“His sole purpose was to kill. And he targeted the youngest and most vulnerable in society,” she said, as relatives of the victims looked on in the courtroom.
Heer said that when he was taken to the police station, Rudakubana was heard saying: “It’s a good thing these children are dead, I’m so happy, I’m so happy.”
The killings sparked days of anti-immigrant violence across the country after far-right activists seized on incorrect reports that the attacker was an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK. Some suggested it was a jihadist attack and alleged the police and government were hiding information.
Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Rwandan Christian parents, and investigators have been unable to pin down his motivation. Police found documents on his devices on topics including Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs.
In the years leading up to the attack, he had been reported to several authorities because of his violent interests and actions. Not all agencies understood the danger he represented.
In 2019, he called a child helpline to ask: “What should I do if I want to kill someone?” He said he took a knife to school because he wanted to kill someone who was bullying him. Two months later, he attacked a fellow student with a hockey stick and was convicted of assault.
Prosecutors said Rudakubana was referred three times to the government’s counter-extremism program, Prevent, when he was 13 and 14 – once after investigating school shootings in class and then for having uploaded photos of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to Instagram and for researching a terrorist attack in London. .
But they concluded that his crimes should not be classified as terrorism because Rudakubana had no discernible political or religious cause. Heer said that “his aim was to commit mass murder, not for any particular purpose, but as an end in itself.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this week the country faces a “new threat” from violent individuals whose combination of motivations challenges the traditional definition of terrorism.
“After one of the most harrowing moments in our country’s history, we owe it to these innocent young girls and everyone involved to bring about the change they deserve,” Starmer said after the sentencing.
Several relatives and survivors read emotional statements in court, describing how the attack had changed their lives.
Lucas, 36, who led the dance class, said “the trauma of being both victim and witness was horrible”.
“I cannot give myself compassion or accept praise, because how can I live knowing that I survived the death of children? she said.
A 14-year-old survivor, who cannot be named due to a court order, said this as she was physically recovering. “We will all have to live forever with the mental pain of that day. »
“I hope you live the rest of your life knowing that we think you are a coward,” she said.
The prosecutor read a statement from Alice Da Silva Aguiar’s parents, who said their daughter’s murder had “broken our souls.”
“We cooked for three. Now we only cook for two. This doesn’t seem right,” they said. “Alice was our purpose in life, so what do we do now?” »