U.K. Teen Who Killed Three Young Girls At Taylor Swift-Themed Party Sentenced To Life In Prison
A teenager in Southport, England, who fatally stabbed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class has been sentenced to life in prison.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, received his life sentence on Thursday and must serve a minimum of 52 years, meaning he will be 70 years old before he has a chance to be freed, The Guardian reported. Rudakubana was 17 when the attack took place.
The judge in this case said Rudakubana would probably “never be released and he will be in custody for all his life” following the “savage” murder of three girls and attempted murder of eight more people, including two adults who intervened to try and stop him.
The Guardian also revealed that Rudakubana’s parents had called the police on him four times in the past six months due to his behavior. In one incident, he had a knife with him on a bus, but police officers merely took him home and told his mother to keep him away from knives.
The court on Thursday also heard how Rudakubana had stabbed some of the victims dozens of times, in some cases with enough force to break their bones. He also chased some of the young girls as they ran from him. Bebe King, 6; Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7; and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9; each died due to the attack. Crown Prosecutor Deanna Heer told the court that the attack on two of the young girls could only be described as “sadistic.”
Though Judge Julian Goose said it was unlikely Rudakubana would ever be released from prison, he wasn’t sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole because he was nine days short of his 18th birthday when he attacked the young girls in July 2024.
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Rudakubana interrupted the sentencing twice, loudly proclaiming to need medical assistance. In one incident, he claimed his “chest is hurting” and needed “to speak to a paramedic.” When the judge tried to proceed, Rudakubana interrupted him by yelling, “Don’t continue! Don’t continue! Don’t continue!” according to The Guardian.
On the day of his sentencing, the BBC released a taxi dashcam video showing Rudakubana heading to Southport prior to the attack. He refused to pay for the cab and can be seen wearing a hoodie pulled up over his head as well as a surgical mask.
Before the sentencing, Briain’s Prime Minister Kier Starmer released a statement saying a review of “our entire counter-extremist system” would occur, The BBC reported.
In the wake of the stabbing, the suspect was falsely accused of being a Muslim asylum seeker, even though he was born in Cardiff, Wales, and moved to Lancashire, England. The belief that an asylum seeker committed the vicious attack led to riots against the influx of immigrants across Britain. Those who initially believed Rudakubana was an asylum seeker believed this in part because authorities took so long to identify him, something that is typically done when a protected class commits a crime.