Families of the victims have denounced the 52-year sentence as insufficient, calling for a life sentence for the Southport perpetrator.
Eighteen-year-old Axel Rudakubana has received a minimum 52-year prison sentence after admitting guilt to 16 charges at Liverpool Crown Court, including the murders of three young girls, the UK Attorney General’s Office announced Thursday.
Earlier this week, Rudakubana confessed to fatally stabbing six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, and to ten counts of attempted murder during a dance school event.
Rudakubana, a British citizen of Rwandan descent, also pleaded guilty to ricin production and possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual detailing terrorist tactics, including poison use and knife attacks.
This sentence represents the minimum term for such crimes, one of the longest ever imposed and the most extensive for someone his age. Accounting for 175 days already served, he will serve 51 years and 190 days before parole eligibility.
“It is highly probable he will never be released,” Justice Julian Goose reportedly stated.
Victim families have criticized the court’s decision, advocating for a life sentence. According to victim impact statements relayed by The Telegraph, a life sentence was deemed “only right” given the “lifetime of grief” inflicted upon their families.
© Merseyside police
The sentence is under review by the Law Officers under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
The tragedy, which sparked anti-immigrant unrest across England, occurred last July in Southport, a coastal town approximately 30km north of Liverpool. Local authorities reported that 26 children, aged six to 13, were at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance workshop.