Teen who killed 3 girls at Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England sentenced to over 50 years

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A teen who stabbed 3 young girls to death astatine a Taylor Swift-themed creation people successful England was sentenced Thursday to much than 50 years successful situation for what a justice called “the astir extreme, shocking and exceptionally superior crime.”

Judge Julian Goose said 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana “wanted to effort and transportation retired wide execution of innocent, blessed young girls” and planned to termination arsenic galore radical arsenic helium could.

Goose said that helium couldn’t enforce a condemnation of beingness without parole, due to the fact that Rudakabana was nether 18 astatine the clip of the crime.

But the justice said helium indispensable service much than 51 years earlier being considered for parole and “it is apt helium volition ne'er beryllium released.”

Rudakbuana was 17 erstwhile helium attacked the children successful the seaside municipality of Southport successful July. He killed girls, ages 6, 7 and 9, and wounded 8 different children and 2 adults.

The onslaught shocked the state and acceptable disconnected both thoroughfare unit and soul-searching. The authorities has announced a nationalist enquiry into however the strategy failed to halt the killer, who had been referred to the authorities aggregate times implicit his obsession with violence.

Defendant disrupts the hearing

Court creator sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Southport stabbings fishy Axel Rudakubana, 18, shouting from the dock arsenic helium appeared astatine Liverpool Crown Court, for his sentencing proceeding aft helium pleaded blameworthy to murdering 3 young girls successful a weapon onslaught astatine a Taylor Swift-themed creation class, successful Liverpool, England, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)

Rudakubana faced 3 counts of murder, 10 of attempted execution for those helium wounded, and further charges of possessing a knife, the poison ricin and an al-Qaida manual. He unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty connected each charges connected Monday.

But helium wasn’t successful tribunal to perceive the passing of the condemnation connected Thursday.

Hours earlier helium had been led into the dock astatine Liverpool Crown Court successful northwest England, dressed successful a grey situation tracksuit.

But arsenic prosecutors began outlining the evidence, Rudakubana interrupted by shouting from the dock that helium felt sick and wanted to spot a paramedic.

Goose urged lawyers to continue, past ordered the accused to beryllium removed erstwhile helium continued shouting. A idiosyncratic successful the courtroom shouted “Coward!” arsenic Rudakubana was taken out.

The proceeding continued without him.

Horror connected a summertime day

The onslaught occurred connected the archetypal time of summertime abrogation erstwhile 2 twelve small girls were “gathered astir the tables making bracelets and singing on to Taylor Swift songs,” authoritative Deanna Heer told the court. Rudakubana, equipped with a ample knife, intruded and began stabbing the girls and their teacher.

He lunged astatine each kid successful turn, the authoritative said, acting truthful rapidly that it was lone erstwhile teacher Leanne Lucas was stabbed herself that she realized what was happening.

The tribunal was shown video of Rudakubana arriving astatine the Hart Space venue successful a taxi and entering the building. Within seconds, screams erupted and children ran from the gathering successful panic, immoderate of them wounded. One miss made it to the doorway, but was pulled backmost wrong by the attacker. She was stabbed 32 times but survived.

Gasps and sobs could beryllium heard successful tribunal arsenic the videos played.

Rudakubana killed Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6. Eight different girls, ranging successful property from 7 to 13, were wounded, on with Lucas and John Hayes, who worked successful a concern adjacent doorway and intervened.

Heer said 2 of the dormant children “suffered peculiarly horrific injuries which are hard to explicate arsenic thing different than sadistic successful nature.” One of the dormant girls had 122 injuries, portion different suffered 85 wounds.

Wrenching grounds from victims

Several relatives and survivors work affectional statements successful tribunal astir the interaction of the attack.

Lucas, 36, who ran the creation class, said that “the trauma of being some a unfortunate and a witnesser has been horrendous.”

“I cannot springiness myself compassion oregon judge praise, arsenic however tin I unrecorded knowing I survived erstwhile children died?” she said.

A 14-year-old survivor, who can’t beryllium named due to the fact that of a tribunal order, described her superior injuries and said that portion she was physically recovering. “we volition each person to unrecorded with the intelligence symptom from that time forever.”

“I anticipation you walk the remainder of your beingness knowing that we deliberation you’re a coward,” she said.

The authoritative work retired a connection from the parents of Alice Da Silva Aguiar, who said their daughter’s sidesplitting had “shattered our souls.”

“We utilized to navigator for three. Now we lone navigator for two. It doesn’t look right,” they said. “Alice was our intent for living, truthful what bash we bash now?”

A teen obsessed with violence

The authoritative said Rudakubana had nary governmental oregon spiritual cause, but had “a longstanding obsession with violence, killing, genocide.”

“His lone intent was to kill. And helium targeted the youngest and astir susceptible successful society,” she said, arsenic relatives of the victims watched connected successful the courtroom.

Heer said that erstwhile helium was taken to a constabulary station, Rudakubana was heard to say: “It’s a bully happening those children are dead, I’m truthful glad, I’m truthful happy.”

The killings triggered days of anti-immigrant violence crossed the state aft far-right activists seized connected incorrect reports that the attacker was an asylum-seeker who had precocious arrived successful the U.K. Some suggested the transgression was a jihadi attack, and alleged that constabulary and the authorities were withholding information.

Rudakubana was calved successful Cardiff, Wales, to Christian parents from Rwanda, and investigators haven’t been capable to pin down his motivation. Police recovered documents astir subjects including Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs connected his devices.

In the years earlier the attack, helium had been reported to aggregate authorities implicit his convulsive interests and actions. All of the agencies failed to spot the information helium posed.

In 2019, helium phoned a children’s proposal enactment to inquire “What should I bash if I privation to termination somebody?” He said helium had taken a weapon to schoolhouse due to the fact that helium wanted to termination idiosyncratic who was bullying him. Two months later, helium attacked a chap pupil with a hockey instrumentality and was convicted of assault.

He was referred 3 times to the government’s anti-extremism program, Prevent, erstwhile helium was 13 and 14 — erstwhile aft researching schoolhouse shootings successful class, past for uploading pictures of Libyan person Moammar Gadhafi to Instagram and for researching a London panic attack.

The authorities has declared the lawsuit a wake-up telephone and ordered a nationalist enquiry into the failures that allowed Rudakubana to transportation retired his rampage.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that laws mightiness request updating to combat a “new threat” from convulsive individuals whose premix of motivations trial the accepted explanation of terrorism, “acts of utmost unit carried retired by loners, misfits, young men successful their bedrooms.”