Teen who killed 3 girls at Taylor Swift dance class jailed for more than 50 years – National
A teenager stabbed three young girls to death a Taylor Swift-A themed dance class in England was sentenced Thursday to more than 50 years in prison for what a judge called “the most extreme, shocking and extremely serious crime.”
Judge Julian Goose said he was 18 years old Axel Rudakubana “He 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 would have to serve 52 years, minus the six months he spent in prison before being considered for parole, and “most likely will never be released.”
Rudakubana was 17 when he attacked the children in Southport in July, killing nine-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and six-year-old Bebe King. , with teacher Leanne Lucas and local businessman John Hayes intervening.
The attack shocked the country and took off both 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.
The accused disrupts the meeting
Rudakubana faces additional charges of three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a knife, ricin poison and a substance. al-Qaeda instruction. He changed unexpectedly his confession of guilt on Monday on 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.
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Summer day horror
Prosecutor Deanna Heer described how the attack happened on the first day of summer vacation when 26 little girls 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.
A teenager addicted to violence
The prosecutor said Rudakubana had a “long-standing obsession with violence, murder and genocide”.
“His only goal 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, he heard Rudakubana say: “It’s good that those children are dead, I’m very happy, very happy.”
The murders caused days domestic violence against immigrants after far-right activists seized on false reports that the attacker was an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain.Some suggested the crime was a jihadist attack and alleged police and government cover-ups.
Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales to Christian parents from Rwanda, and investigators have not been able to determine his motivation. The police also found documents related to the subjects Nazi Germanythe The Rwandan genocide and car bombs on their devices.
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?” asked the question. 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.
Definition of terrorism
Rudakubana was referred three times to Prevent, the government’s counter-extremism program, when he was 13 and 14, once in a classroom after investigating school shootings and then for uploading images of the Libyan leader, prosecutors said. Muammar Gaddafi According to Instagram and research a London terror attack.
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 This week he said the country must face a “new threat” from violent individuals who are challenging the traditional definition of terrorism.
“After one of the most tragic moments in our country’s history, we owe it to these innocent young girls and those who suffered to bring them the change they deserve,” Starmer said after the sentencing.
Shocking testimonies of the victims
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 were cooking for three people. Now we cook only for two people. It doesn’t seem right,” they said. “Alice was our purpose for living, so what do we do now?”
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