A teenager who killed three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England has been sentenced to more than 50 years in prison

A teenager stabbed three young girls to death A Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison on Thursday for what a judge called “the most extreme, shocking and extremely serious crime”.

Judge Julian Goose said 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana “wanted to try and carry out the mass murder of innocent, happy young girls”.

Goose said he could not impose a life sentence without parole because Rudakubana was under 18 when he committed the crime.

But the judge said he must serve 52 years, minus six months, before being eligible for parole and “most likely will never be released.”

Rudakubana was 17 years old attacked the children killed 9-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and 6-year-old Bebe King in the seaside town of Southport in July. Hayes, a local businessman who intervened.

The attack shocked the country and sent them both on their way street violence and soul searching. The government has announced a public inquiry into how it failed to stop a killer who was repeatedly referred to the authorities for his obsession with violence.

Rudakubana faces three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and additional charges of possession of a knife, poison ricin and al-Qaeda instructions. On Monday, he unexpectedly changed his plea to all charges.

But he was not in court to hear the verdict handed down on Thursday.

Hours earlier, he was brought to the dock at Liverpool Crown Court in north-west England wearing a gray prison jumpsuit. But when prosecutors began to explain the evidence, Rudakubana interrupted, shouting that she felt sick and wanted to see a medical professional.

When Goz continued to scream, he ordered the accused to be removed. In the courtroom, someone yelled, “Coward!” As Rudakubana was removed.

The meeting continued without his participation.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer explained that the attack happened on the first day of summer vacation “while we were gathering around tables making bracelets and singing Taylor Swift songs.”

Armed with a large knife, Rudakubana entered and started stabbing the girls and their teacher.

A video of the suspect arriving at Hart Space by taxi and entering the building was shown in court. Within seconds, screams erupted and children ran outside in panic, some injured. A girl reached the door, but the intruder pulled her inside. Although he was stabbed 32 times, he survived.

Sobs and sobs could be heard in court as the videos played.

Heer said two of the children who died suffered “particularly gruesome injuries that are difficult to explain as anything other than sadistic in nature.” One of the dead girls received 122 and the other 85 wounds.

The prosecutor said Rudakubana had “a long-standing obsession with violence, murder and genocide”.

“His sole purpose was to kill. And he targeted the youngest and most vulnerable in society,” he said, as relatives of the victims watched in the courtroom.

Heer said that when he was taken to the police station, Rudakubana was heard to say: “It’s good that those children are dead, I’m very happy, very happy.”

The killings sparked days of anti-immigrant violence across the country after some far-right activists, who seized on false reports that the attacker was an asylum seeker who had just arrived in the UK, suggested the crime was a jihadist attack. the government was withholding information.

Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales to Christian parents from Rwanda, and investigators have not been able to determine his motivation. Police found documents on his devices on subjects including Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs.

In the years leading up to the attack, he had been reported to multiple authorities for his violent interests and actions. All agencies failed to see the danger it posed.

In 2019, she called a child helpline asking “What if I want to kill someone?” He said he took a knife to school because he wanted to kill someone who bullied him. Two months later, he attacked a fellow student with a hockey stick and was found guilty of assault.

Prosecutors said Rudakubana was sent to Prevent, the government’s counter-extremism program, three times between the ages of 13 and 14 – once after investigating school shootings in a classroom, then for uploading pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to Instagram and investigating a terrorist attack in London.

But they concluded that his crimes should not be classified as terrorism because Rudakubana had no clear political or religious motive. Heer said “his intention was to commit mass murder as an end in itself, not for a specific purpose”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this week the country must face a “new threat” from violent individuals who test the traditional definition of terrorism with mixed motives.

“After one of the most tragic moments in our country’s history, we owe it to these innocent young girls and all those who have suffered to bring them the change they deserve,” Starmer said after the verdict.

Several relatives and survivors read emotional statements in court describing how the attack had turned their lives upside down.

Lucas, 36, who runs a dance class, said “the trauma of being both a victim and a witness was terrible”.

“I can’t have self-pity or accept praise because how can I live knowing that I survived when the children died?” he said.

The surviving 14-year-old girl, whose name cannot be released by court order, said as she recovered physically. “We will all have to live with the mental pain from that day forward forever.”

“I hope you spend the rest of your life knowing you’re a coward,” he said.

Prosecutor Alice Da Silva read a statement from Aguiar’s parents, who said their daughter’s murder “tears our souls apart.”

“We used to cook for three. Now we only cook for two. It doesn’t look right,” they said. “Alice was our purpose for living, so what do we do now?”