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Wednesday, February 19, 2025
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British teenager bags 52yrs imprisonment for killing three girls 

By Chidera Oma

A British teenager, who killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event has been sentenced to 52 years imprisonment for murder.

18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was sentenced months after he stabbed, 6-year-old Bebe King, Elsie Stancombe who was then 7, and 9-year-old Alice Aguiar in Southport, United Kingdom.

Rudakubana, as learnt, attacked the building containing 26 children who attended the summer vacation event on July 2024, leaving one of his victims with 85 sharp force injuries and the other with 122 deep cuts.

As gathered, the Rwandan national, aside from killing the young girls also wounded eight other girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, along with teacher Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, a local businessman who intervened.

The teenager, faced three counts of murder, 10 of attempted murder, and additional charges of possessing a knife, the poison ricin, and an al-Qaida manual after he was found guilty by the Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.

Delivering the Judgement, Justice Julian Goose said Rudakubana should serve a minimum of 52 years. He said he could not impose a full life sentence as teen was 17 when the attack took place but he was unlikely ever to be released.

During his trial, the prosecuting counsel, Deanna Heer presented evidence against Rudakubana including video footage obtained from the event and images and documents found on his laptop.

In the footage presented before the court, the teenager armed with a large knife, arrived at the Hart Space venue in a taxi and entered the building. Within seconds, screams erupted and children ran outside in panic, some of them wounded. One girl made it to the doorway but was pulled back inside by the attacker. She was stabbed 32 times but survived.

According to Heer, images and documents found on a computer at his home showed a long obsession with violence, killing, and genocide.”

Rudakubana, had in 2019 contacted a helpline for children and asked: “What should I do if I want to kill somebody?” .Soon afterward, he was expelled from school after admitting to bringing in a knife 10 times, and was arrested with a knife in his backpack after returning and attacking a pupil with a hockey stick,” the prosecutor said.

Explaining further, Heer said that the murders were not considered terrorism as the attacker was not inspired by any particular political or religious ideology. 

“Material mocking religions including Islam, Judaism, and Christianity had been found on his devices. It is not possible to identify any particular terrorist cause rather, the evidence suggests that the defendant’s purpose was the commission of mass murder as an end in itself,” he added.

Meanwhile, the defendant’s lawyer, Stan Reiz said that he had been diagnosed with autism and he did not have a mental disorder that explained his actions.

Following the evidence brought against him, the teenager pleaded guilty prompting the judge to sentence him to jail.

Rudakubana, had been referred to a counter-radicalization scheme, Prevent, after researching school shootings, uploading images of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to Instagram, and researching an attack in London, but no action was taken.

The government has announced a public inquiry into how the system failed to stop the killer, who had been referred to the authorities multiple times over his obsession with violence.

“After one of the most harrowing moments in our country’s history we owe it to these innocent young girls and all those affected to deliver the change that they deserve,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

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