teenager stabbed three girls to death A defendant who attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Britain was sentenced on Thursday to more than 50 years in prison for what a judge called “the most extreme, shocking and exceptionally serious crime.” It was.
Judge Julian Goose said 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana “wanted to attempt the mass murder of innocent, happy girls”.
Goos said Rudakubana could not be sentenced to life in prison without parole because he was under 18 at the time of the crime.
But the judge said he would have to serve 52 years in prison, minus six months in custody, before being considered for parole and was “likely not to be released”.
When Rudakubana was 17 years old attacked the children He killed Alice da Silva Aguar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, in the seaside town of Southport in July. He injured teachers Leanne Lucas and John, as well as eight girls aged between seven and 13. Mr. Hayes, a local businessman, intervened.
Darren Staples/AP
The attack shocked the nation, sparking both street violence and soul-searching. The government has announced a public inquiry into how the system failed to stop the killer, who had been repeatedly reported to authorities because of his obsession with violence.
Rudakbana was charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder, and additional charges of possessing a knife, the poison ricin, and al-Qaeda manuals. He unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty on all charges on Monday.
However, he did not appear in court Thursday to hear the verdict.
Hours earlier, he was led into the defense court at Liverpool Crown Court in northwest England wearing a gray prison jersey. But as the prosecutor began to outline the evidence, Rudakubana interrupted, shouting that she felt unwell and wanted to see paramedics.
Goose ordered the defendant to leave the scene as he continued to scream. One person in the courtroom yelled, “Coward!” Because Rudakubana was pulled out.
The hearing continued without him.
Elizabeth Cook/Associated Press
Prosecutor Deanna Heer described how the attack happened on the first day of summer vacation when 26 girls were “gathered around a table making bracelets and singing along to Taylor Swift songs.”
Rudakubana, armed with a large knife, entered and began stabbing the girls and the teacher.
The court was shown footage of the suspect arriving at the Heart Space venue in a taxi and entering the building. Within seconds, screams rang out and the children ran outside in panic, some injured. One of the girls made it to the doorway, but was pulled back inside by her attacker. She was stabbed 32 times but survived.
Gasps and sobs could be heard in the courtroom as the video played.
Ms Heer said two of the children who died had “particularly severe injuries that are difficult to explain as anything other than a sadistic nature”. One of the girls who died sustained 122 injuries and the other 85 injuries.
Prosecutors said Mr Rudakbana had a “long-standing obsession with violence, murder and genocide”.
“His only purpose was to kill people, and he targeted the youngest and most vulnerable people in society,” she said as relatives of the victims looked on in court.
Heer said that when he was taken to the police station, Rudakbana could be heard saying, “I’m glad those kids are dead, I’m so glad, I’m so happy.”
The killing sparked days of anti-immigrant violence across the United States after far-right activists had false information that the attacker was an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain. Some suggested the crime was a jihadist attack, and police and the government withheld information.
Mr Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Christian parents from Rwanda, but investigators have not been able to determine his motives. Police found documents on his device about Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide, car bombs, and more.
In the years before the attack, he had been reported to multiple authorities for violent interests and behavior. No government agency recognized the danger he posed.
In 2019, she called a child welfare center and asked, “What should I do if I want to kill someone?” He said he brought a knife to school because he wanted to kill the person who was bullying him. Two months later, he attacked a classmate with a hockey stick and was found guilty of assault.
Prosecutors said Rudakbana was sent to the government’s anti-extremism program Prevent three times when she was 13 and 14 years old. Once after researching school shootings in class, then for uploading a photo of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to Instagram, and then for investigating the London terrorist attack. .
However, they concluded that Rudakbana had no perceived political or religious motive, so his crimes should not be classified as terrorism. “His goal was to commit mass murder, not for any specific purpose, but as an end in itself,” Heer said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this week the country must confront “new threats” from violent actors with mixed motives that challenge traditional definitions of terrorism.
“After one of the most tragic moments in our country’s history, we have a responsibility to these innocent girls and all those affected to bring about the change they deserve,” Starmer said after the verdict. said.
Several relatives and survivors read emotional statements in court, describing how their lives were shattered by the attack.
“The trauma of being both a victim and a witness is terrifying,” said Lucas, 36, who runs a dance class.
“I can’t feel sorry for myself or accept praise. How can I live knowing that I survived when my children died?” she said.
The 14-year-old survivor, who cannot be named due to a court order, said as she continued to recover. “We will all have to live with the emotional pain of that day forever.”
“I want you to spend the rest of your life knowing that we think of you as a coward,” she said.
Prosecutors read statements from Alice da Silva Aguiar’s parents, who said their daughter’s murder “shattered our souls.”
“We used to cook for three people, but now we only cook for two. That doesn’t seem right,” they said. “Alice was the purpose of our lives, so what are we going to do now?”
