Axel Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison for the murder of 3 British children
WARNING: This story contains details of child abuse.
A British judge on Thursday sentenced a teenager who killed three young girls to a minimum of 52 years in prison after the killer was removed from court for interrupting the sentencing.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty Monday to the murders of Baby King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, last July in Southport, northern England, an atrocity that followed days of : nationwide riots.
Two of his victims suffered “horrendous injuries which are difficult to explain away as anything other than sadistic in nature,” prosecutor Deana Heer told Liverpool Crown Court earlier.
“I'm glad those kids are dead, that makes me happy,” Rudakubana told police after the attack, Herr said.
Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted murder, as well as manufacturing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual.Eight of the 10 non-fatally injured victims were also children.
The prosecutor also said al-Qaeda's training manual contained advice on killing with a knife, but Rudakubana was not inspired by any political or religious ideology.
Children were in attendance at the Taylor Swift-themed dance party, but there was never any indication the attacker knew the specifics of what took place at Southport's Hart Space.
Judge Julian Goose said the fact Rudakubana was nine days shy of his 18th birthday at the time limited his ability to impose a “whole life” sentence under British law, but he expressed confidence he was unlikely to be released. :
The murderer's sentences for various crimes are concurrent.
Previous troubling behaviors were outlined
Heyer said two of the girls suffered at least 85 and 122 blunt force injuries, which Rudakubana inflicted with a 20-centimeter knife he bought online from Amazon under a pseudonym.
He described a horrifying scene in which the court was shown footage of young girls fleeing the building, with a bloodied girl collapsing gasping and sobbing from the public gallery.
Images and documents found on his home computer showed “he had a long-standing obsession with violence, murder and genocide,” Herr said.
In 2019, Rudakubana contacted the child helpline, the prosecutor said, and asked: “What should I do if I want to kill someone?”
He was soon expelled from the school after admitting to carrying a knife there 10 times and was later arrested with a knife in his backpack after returning to school and attacking a student with a hockey stick, Herr said.
Immediately after the verdict, Rudakubana was removed from the court after repeatedly shouting that he was ill. One shouted “coward” as he left.
The UK government wants social media companies to do more to stop the spread of misinformation after it spread on platforms like X and sparked violent protests.
The killings have been followed by riots across the country that have led to dozens of arrests.Misinformation spread online that Rudakubana was a refugee and a Muslim.
The teenager was born in Cardiff, Wales to parents originally from Rwanda.
