Axel Rudakubana sentenced to 52 years in prison for killing 3 British children

WARNING: This story contains details of violence involving minors.

A British judge sentenced a teenager who killed three girls to less than 52 years in prison on Thursday, after the killer was released from prison for disrupting his sentencing.

On Monday, Axel Rudakubana, 18, admitted to the murder of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, last July in the northern English town of Southport, a brutality that followed for several days. commotion throughout the country.

His two victims suffered serious injuries that were “difficult to describe as anything other than tragic in nature,” prosecutor Deanna Heer previously told Liverpool Crown Court.

“I’m happy that those children are dead, I’m happy,” Rudakubana told the police after the attack, Heer said.

Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted murder, as well as producing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual. Eight of the 10 non-fatal injury victims were also children.

The prosecutor also said that the al-Qaeda training manual contained advice on killing with a knife, but Rudakubana was not motivated by politics or religion.

The children had attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance party, but there was no indication that the attacker knew the details of what happened at Hart Space in Southport.

Justice Julian Goose said the fact that Rudakubana was nine days shy of his 18th birthday at the time prevented him under British law from imposing a “life” sentence, but expressed confidence that he was unlikely to be released.

The murderer’s sentences for the different crimes are concurrent.

Previous disruptive behavior is revealed

Heer said the two girls were injured at least 85 and 122 times, which Rudakubana stabbed with a 20-centimeter long knife he had bought online from Amazon using an alias.

He described the frightening incident, the court showed a video of little girls screaming and running away from the building. Another girl covered in blood was seen lying outside, causing cries and cries in the public square.

Photos and documents found on a computer in his home show he had “a passion for violence, murder and murder,” Heer said.

In 2019, Rudakubana had contacted the children’s phone, the prosecutor said, and asked: “What should I do if I want to kill someone?”

Soon after, he was kicked out of school after admitting to taking a knife there 10 times and was later arrested with a knife in his bag after he returned to school and attacked a student with a hockey stick, Heer said.

As soon as his trial began, Rudakubana was taken out of custody after repeatedly shouting that he was not well. Someone shouted “coward” as he left.

These killings were followed by riots throughout the country which led to the arrest of a large number of people. False information circulated on the Internet falsely claimed that Rudakubana was a refugee and a Muslim.

The young man was born in Cardiff, Wales, to parents from Rwanda.