UK Court Sentences Teenager Axel Rudakubana Who Killed Three Girls At Dance Class To 52 Years In Prison
The Judge said that Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time he committed the crime, “wanted to carry out mass murder of innocent, happy young girls.”
Judge Julian Goose has sentenced 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England to 52 years in prison.
Judge Goose, who delivered the judgment on Thursday, described the crime “extreme, shocking, and exceptionally serious,” according to an AP report.
The Judge said that Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time he committed the crime, “wanted to carry out mass murder of innocent, happy young girls.”
While the judge explained he couldn’t give a life sentence without parole due to Rudakubana’s age at the time of the crime, he ruled that the defendant must serve at least 52 years in prison, minus the six months he has already spent in custody, before being considered for parole.
Judge Goose added that it is “likely he will never be released.”
Rudakubana had reportedly fatally stabbed a 9-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, a 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and a 6-year-old Bebe King, in Southport, a seaside town, during an attack in July.
He also wounded eight other girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, as well as their teacher Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, a local businessman who tried to intervene.
The attack, which took place on the first day of summer vacation, shocked the nation and sparked both street violence and deep reflection on the failures of the system.
The government has launched an inquiry into how authorities missed multiple warnings about Rudakubana’s violent tendencies.
Rudakubana faced three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder, as well as charges related to possessing a knife, ricin poison, and an al-Qaida manual.
But he reportedly unexpectedly pleaded guilty to all charges on Monday.
However, he was not present in court for the sentencing as before the proceedings began, Rudakubana, wearing a gray prison tracksuit, interrupted the hearing by claiming he felt ill and requested a paramedic.
When he continued shouting, the judge ordered his removal, prompting someone in the courtroom to shout “Coward!”
The prosecution described the attack, which occurred as 26 girls were making bracelets and singing Taylor Swift songs, before Rudakubana entered armed with a large knife.
Within moments, screams filled the room, and the children fled in panic, some of them injured.
One girl, who managed to reach the door, was dragged back inside and stabbed 32 times but survived.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer said two of the murdered girls suffered “particularly horrific injuries,” with one receiving 122 wounds and the other 85.
She described Rudakubana as having a “longstanding obsession with violence, killing, genocide” and said his sole intention was to kill, targeting the youngest and most vulnerable in society.
During questioning, Rudakubana was heard saying, “It’s a good thing those children are dead, I’m so glad, I’m so happy.”
The killings sparked anti-immigrant violence, with far-right groups wrongly claiming the attacker was an asylum seeker. The attacker was born in Cardiff to Rwandan Christian parents, and investigators have struggled to determine his motivation.
Documents found on his devices referenced Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide, and car bombs.
In the years leading up to the attack, Rudakubana had been reported to authorities multiple times for violent behavior.
He called a children’s advice line in 2019 asking how to kill someone, later bringing a knife to school after being bullied. He was also convicted of assaulting another student with a hockey stick.
Prosecutors said Rudakubana was referred to the government’s anti-extremism program, Prevent, three times for incidents such as researching school shootings and uploading images of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to Instagram.
However, the actions were not classified as terrorism.
