Teenage attacker sentenced to 52 years in prison

Axel Rudakubana, the 18-year-old man who murdered three girls during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, has been sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in prison.

This period includes concurrent sentences for murder and attempted murder. Earlier this week, Rudakubana pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder. He pleaded guilty to possessing terrorist material and producing ricin.

Rudakubana was 17 years old at the time of the attacks, which occurred in Southport, England. He killed Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Aguiar, 9, in a stabbing attack at Southport Heartspace Dance School on July 30, 2024. Eight other children and two adults were seriously injured wounded. Others are in critical condition.

According to the BBC, Judge Julian Goose said Rudakubana’s intentions were to “kill as many people as he could”, adding: “It was such extreme violence, such extreme seriousness and ‘exceptional seriousness, that it is difficult to understand why this was done. »

Investigations into the attack revealed that Rudakubana accessed a PDF file titled “Military Studies in Jihad Against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual,” according to The Independent. Police Chief Serena Kennedy added that other documents discovered suggested “a long-standing obsession with violence, murder and genocide.”

Goose argued that while there was not enough evidence to suggest the teen intended to commit an act of terrorism, he considers the attack “tantamount to terrorist matters.” Rudakubana will probably never be released, he added.

“(The girls) came together for a Taylor Swift-themed morning to dance, sing and make friendship bracelets in honor of their idol,” Kennedy said. “These girls – aged between six and 13 – were the polar opposite of the calculating teenager who carried out this heartbreaking and atrocious, premeditated attack. »

Southport MP Patrick Hurley called on the Attorney General to review the sentence on the grounds that “the sentence handed down today is not harsh enough, it is not long enough for the crimes committed, we need ‘a sentence which represents the seriousness of this crime’. this terrorized the victims and their families.