Axel Rudakubana, who tried to murder 26 girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party last year and killed three of them, will be in custody for “almost the rest of his life,” but not his entire life. He attacked on his 18th birthday.
Judge Goos sentenced Rwandan murderer Axel Rudakubana to a minimum of 52 years in prison. He said if he had not been 17 when he started the attack, he would have definitely received a rare life sentence. This means that unless his appeal is successful, Mr Rudakubana will not be liable for parole for 52 years, and even then, in the judge's words, “he will be in custody for almost the rest of his life. We believe it is highly likely that he will never be released and will remain in custody for the rest of his life.”
Rudakubana was also sentenced to 18 years for trying to kill eight children and 16 years for trying to kill two adults who tried to protect them. Among other charges, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possessing a knife, 12 years in prison for manufacturing the biological toxin ricin, and 18 months in prison for possessing a digital copy of an al-Qaeda training manual.
However, these judgments under English law run “contemporaneously”, meaning they are not cumulative. The actual sentence is still 52 years.
Rudakubana was not in court when the verdict was read, as he had repeatedly interrupted the proceedings throughout the day, claiming he had not eaten in 10 days and was feeling unwell. He was taken out of the room.
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Although the full case was never heard in court because of Rudakubana's last-minute guilty plea, horrifying new details of the Southport attack were nevertheless read out in court by prosecutors and summarized by Rudakubana. As a result, it became public for the first time. Judge Goose's judgment.
It has long been known that the victims were stabbed multiple times by Rudakubana, who had traveled with a group of children on holiday fun, but in at least one incident, Rudakubana stabbed the child victim in the neck with a knife. It was revealed today that he was trying to amputate his body.
In summarizing, Judge Goose said that in the death of 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, she suffered “at least 85 sharp impact injuries to her head, face, neck, torso and upper extremities.” Violent force was used to cause her death. ”
The judge said Rudakubana caused “at least 122 sharp force injuries to the head, face, neck, torso and upper extremities” in the death of six-year-old Bebe King. That was the opinion [the pathologist] That Rudakbana tried to behead her. He concluded that violent force was used to kill her. ”
Judge Goose said in the death of 9-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, the injuries sustained during Rudakubana's murder included “a cut to the head and four stab wounds to the back, causing significant internal injuries.” said. She managed to escape from the building, but collapsed and died in hospital despite all medical treatment. ” Alice was stabbed in two cases with such force that the knife sliced through her very ribs.
The judge said:
…In his mind was the intention to murder as many people as physically possible. He planned to carry out a mass murder of innocent, happy girls, and over the course of about 15 minutes he brutally murdered 3 of them, attempted to kill 8 more, and even killed 2 adults who tried to stop him. I tried to kill him.
…Rudakbana had the sheer determination to carry out these crimes, and if he could have done so, he would have killed every single one of the children, all 26 of them…It is important that some of them escaped. That alone could have prevented many more people from being killed. .
Security camera footage of the attack was shown in court, and at times it showed vivid images of people sitting in the audience breaking down in tears. At one point, a camera showing the outside of the building showed children running away from the scene, but one of them was grabbed by Rudakbana, pulled back inside and stabbed.
After his arrest, it was revealed for the first time that he had been gloating about the murder. He said this while in police custody.
I'm glad those kids died, that makes me happy. I don't care, I feel neutral.
…I'm glad those kids died.
…Literally, it's a good thing those kids died at 6 years old.
…I'm really glad the kids died, I'm really glad. I'm so happy, 6 years old. It's a good thing they died, yeah.
The court also found that Rudakubana had a long-standing interest in genocide, had repeatedly carried a knife to school and attempted to use it because he believed he had been subjected to “racist” bullying, and was a member of al-Qaeda. I heard that. At his home were training manuals and ricin, a powerful biological toxin. The judge said Rudakbana's former teacher had testified that she had “intimidated people who she felt had wronged her.” But without a full trial, the exact reasons why Rudakbana felt she was being treated unfairly by young girls were never revealed.
One question that remains regarding this attack is whether it constituted an act of terrorism. In his judgment, the judge said he could not call it terrorism because the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to call it terrorism, but insisted he still considered it to be as serious as terrorism. He told the court:
The prosecution states that these proceedings are not acts of terrorism within the meaning of the Terrorism Bill, as there is no evidence that Ruda Kavanagh's purpose was to further any political, religious, racial or ideological cause. revealed. I have to accept that conclusion. However, in my judgment, whatever his objectives, his culpability for this extreme level of violence is comparable in severity to terrorist murder.
This story is developing and has more to come.
