Southport sentencing: Axel Rudakubana jailed for minimum 52 years after sick attack

The minimum 52-year sentence handed to the 18-year-old is the equivalent of an adult life sentence, but because he was 17 when the crime was committed, a ‘whole life’ sentence with no chance of parole wasn’t a legal possibility.

If the sentence isn’t overturned by the Court of Appeal, Rudakubana would be subject to a review by the Parole Board after 52 years before being considered for release.

He will be held in a high-security adult men’s jail, as he has been since turning 18, according to the PA News Agency.

If he was released on parole, he would remain under superivison on licence for the remainder of his life, as is legally required for all murderers.

Southport’s Labour MP Patrick Hurley said Rudakubana’s 52-year minimum sentence, which is thought to be the longest imposed on an 18-year-old killer, is “unduly lenient”.

“We need a sentence that represents the severity of this crime that has terrorised the victims and their families,” he said.

It will be reviewed under the unduly lenient sentence scheme and could be referred to the Court of Appeal after a 28 day consideration period.

Axel Rudakubana was removed from the dock twice during his trial at Liverpool Crown Court today after repeatedly shouting and disrupting the proceedings.

He told his lawyer he would cause more of a scene if forced to re-enter the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.

As he was led out, a family member of one of his victims branded him a “coward” – a label also attached to the 18-year-old by Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick.

“This coward could not face up to his evil crimes,” Mr Jenrick . “His crimes are so monstrous he should never be released from prison.”

The Attorney General’s office said it received a request to consider whether Radukabana’s minimum 52-year sentence was too short just minutes after the judgement was announced.

The case has been referred under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, giving officers 28 days to decide whether it should be referred to the Court of Appeal.

The Prime Minister said in a statement after Axel Radukabana was sentenced this afternoon: “The thoughts of the entire nation are with the families and everyone affected by the unimaginable horrors that unfolded in Southport. No words will ever be able to capture the depth of their pain.

“I want to say directly to the survivors, families and community of Southport – you are not alone. We stand with you in your grief.

“What happened in Southport was an atrocity and as the judge has stated, this vile offender will likely never be released.

“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.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said there was a “strong case” for amending the law to allow for whole-life orders to be imposed on people aged under 18 in some cases, which “ will start to explore”.

In a post on X, she said: “Axel Rudakubana should never be released from prison. His age means he has not been given a whole-life sentence, despite the countless lives he destroyed on that dreadful day, and the legacy of mistrust he has sown across the country.

“There is a strong case here for amending the law to give clear judicial discretion to award whole-life sentences to under 18s, which will start to explore.

“My heart goes out to the victims and their families. None of us can imagine your pain and we owe you justice.”

Reform UK MPs Lee Anderson and Rupert Lowe have both backed a reinstation of the death penalty – last recorded in the UK in 1964 – amid dissatisfaction over the sentence handed to 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana in court today.

Although his minimum 52-year sentence means he is likely to die behind bars, the judge couldn’t hand him a sentence of life in jail with no parole because he was under 18 when the Southport murders took place.

“It is my opinion that now is the time for a national debate on the use of the death penalty in exceptional circumstances. This is an exceptional circumstance,” Mr Lowe .

“I have been consistent on the issue of the death penalty,” Mr Anderson added.

“This animal has no right to breath the same air as the rest of us.”

Axel Rudakubana is likely to die in jail after being sentenced to a minimum of 52 years behind bars, Mr Justice Goose said.

But the horrific nature of the crime has sparked fresh debate on whether a lifetime in prison is a sufficient punishment. We’re asking Express readers if they would support the UK bringing back the death penalty for cases like the Southport stabbings – let us know what you think below.

DCI Pye said his force were left with just 72 hours to find enough evidence to charge Rudakubana with murder under UK law after he was arrested at the Hart Space family centre in Southport.

If they had found evidence that he was motivated by a specific political or religious ideology, .

Owning an al-Qaeda manual wasn’t enough to meet such a threshold, however.

“There’s three elements (to be deemed a terrorist). He has absolutely caused terror – that’s the first element,” he told the Express. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that that’s what he’s done. He’s created mass murder.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that violence within the community. The third part has to be for that political or religious, and we just haven’t got it.”

Detective Chief Inspector Jason Pye of Merseyside Police that his team were given just 39 days to comb through extensive evidence on Rudakubana’s 32 electrical devices before handing prosecution evidence to the CPS.

“What kept us going was the strength of the victims, the bereaved families, , the stories from some of the children – just so strong,” he said.

“The majority of those children didn’t even know there was any evil in the world that day. with probably some of the good in the world coming together.

“It’s really difficult for anybody to try and understand, because we’ve not found why he’s done it, why would he pick them the most vulnerable. There’s no training course that can prepare you for it.”

Police found weapons including a machete and set of arrows alongside the deadly toxin ricin in Axel Rudakubana’s bedroom after the Southport attack.

They also discovered videos of torture, genocide and beheadings on the 18-year-old’s electronic devices.

Read more .

showed Axel Rudakubana arriving at the door of the Southport dance studio where he launched his horrifying attack in July.

Seconds after he entered the building, the screams of young children could be heard, with one young girl seen staggering out towards the car park before collapsing.

Express correspondent for the North-West Chris Riches said “the screams of terrified children fleeing Rudakubana’s deadly knife attack” would stay with him forever.

“The haunting victim statements, some from children Rudakubana left with scars they will carry forever, were heard in eerie, aching silence.”

Read more .

The 18-year-old has been detained at Liverpool Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and the attempted murder of eight other children in Southport.

For the triple murder passing sentence of life Mr Justice Goose ordered Rudakubana to serve a minimum term of 51 years and 190 days.

For each attempted murder of children Judge Goose passed concurrent sentences of 18 years and for the two adults it was 16 years concurrent. 12 years for ricin and 18 months for terror documents.

Mr Justice Goose said his starting point for sentencing would be 27 years but said there were extensive aggravating factors in the case.

He said Rudakubana had shown no remorse – although added that it “is not an aggravating feature”.

“Please do not post or share detailed accounts of the injuries” sustained by the little girls attacked in Southport, Merseyside Police has asked.

Judge Goose said: “It will be for parole board to decide if he is ever fit for release. It is likely he will never be released and he will be in custody for the rest of his life.”

Watch the sentencing live at Liverpool Crown Court:

“I am satisfied that for some time he had planned to kill as many people as he could – targeting very young children,” the judge said.

He added that if the 18-year-old had not succeeded in this way then he would likely have used ricin in a future attack.

Judge Goose: “The harm that Rudakubana has caused to each family and the community has been “profound and permanent”.

His surviving victims’ lives will “never be the same again”.

The Judge said he was only prevented from killing more children by them managing to escape and told the court that when police arrived at the scene they found him standing over Bebe’s body still gripping his knife.

Judge Julian Goose says Rudakubana had “targeted those young children for the horrific extreme violence he was intent on.”

It was his intention to mass murder as many “happy, innocent young girls” as possible.

He said: “I’m sure had he been able to he would have killed each of the 26 of them – and any adult that got in his way”.

Rudakubana has refused to re-enter the court to hear the judge’s sentencing and says if forced he will continue to be disruptive.

The defence counsel added that the possibility of release for the 18-year-old should remain because there existed the potential for rehabilitation if “at some point”, he recognises “the gravity of what he has done”.

Defence counsel Stanley Reiz KC said Rudakubana had a normal childhood but “something changed” when he turned 13.

He added that the “most mitigating factor was that he was 17 when he committed these offences” but claimed his mental age was below his physical one.

He said that his client had displayed “candour” when talking to adults about his violent tendencies, including police.

The 10-year-old who was the first to be stabbed in the attack recounted: “I was holding my mum’s hand and I just felt heavy and sick. My entire body was in pain.

“I was in hospital for 12 days and at night I kept waking up with nightmares. I kept thinking someone would get into my room.”

The child had to have her spleen removed and skin grafts.

She continued: “I have a scar on my tummy and two scars on my back, and one on my side from the attack and the treatment.

“If I see anyone who looks like him or wearing a green top, I feel worried and scared.

“I still have nightmares once or twice a week where I replay what happened and wake up and feel a bit on edge.

“I think about all the other children that were there and I feel guilty that I wasn’t able to help the children that died and I think, ‘Was there anything I could have done to help them?’”

A victim statement has been read from the first child Rudakubana stabbed as he launched his attack.

The girl, aged 10 at the time of the attack, said: “I first thought that the man who stabbed me was a cleaner and when I saw him and what was happening I thought it was a prank.

“I realised it wasn’t a prank when I saw blood coming out of me. I remember everything being fuzzy and everything that was going through my mind was about my family and friends.

“I was thinking, ‘I don’t want to die, I have got to get out of here’.

“When I was outside of the building I was thinking what am I going to do as my phone was inside … I had so much blood coming out of me and I was trying to scream, but I was struggling to scream.

“Mum was screaming, I remember everything that happened with the paramedic and then going to hospital in the air ambulance.”

The parents of one of the children injured in the July attack said the 18-year-old “will not win” and “gain the notoreity he so desperately craves”.

“This person has abused his power as an adult in the most extreme of ways,” they added. “To exert planned, sustained and unimaginable horror over the most powerless in our society, our children.

“He will not be remembered. When we think of Southport, we will think of the girls. Their bravery. Their strength.”

The father of an injured girl said he was unable to recognise her when he went to pick her up from the dance class.

“This is one of the many, many moments that tortures both of us,” the parents said.

Their daughter told them she had thought Rudakubana was playing a prank and told him she “didn’t want to play”, but he attacked her.

“She woke up still trying to grab onto her best friend. Still trying to escape him. Still trying to run.

“Our daughter has not only experienced the most violent, frenzied attack on her body, but she’s witnessed so much horror too.

“Her entire childhood has been destroyed by what she experienced and although she survived, she now has to carry that with her for the rest of her life.”

Jenny Stancombe tells Rudakubana that he “does not deserve to hear about her daughter.”

She told him: “You do not deserve to hear about my daughter. We are not trying to stand here and list everyhting you have taken away from us. We refuse to give you the satisfaction.”

“You chose that place, that time knowing that when we arrived all we would see was the aftermath of the devastation caused.

“If we had been there this would never have happened.”

Jenny Stancombe, whose seven-year-old daughter Elsie Dot Stancombe was a victim of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, has said in a statement at his sentencing hearing: “What you did was not only cruel and pure evil; it was the act of a coward.”

Alice da Silva Aguiar’s parents told in their statement how their daughter turned into a “wonderful girl” for whom “a world of possibility” awaited her.

Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar said: “Our dream girl has been taken away in such a horrible, undeserving way that it shattered our souls.”

They described her as “perfect in every way” and said she had been “a strong a confident pre-teen with a world of potential.”

Prior to the attack they said “life was bliss” and had planned to surprise her with a trip to Disneyland.

Attending the Taylor Swift workshop for Alice had been “the perfect plan for a perfect day” before the killer struck.

They said: “Once she lost her fight we lost our lives. Our life went with her, he took our lives too.”

The tearful father of a nine-year-old girl, who cannot be identified, and was stabbed but survived, read out a victim impact statement on behalf of her family.

He said he asked his daughter to explain the impact the events have had on her.

Reading her words, he said: “It has been very hard to deal with what happened to me at Hart Space. I struggle with my emotions and I have scars that I know will be with me forever, but I want to look forward.

“When people in school asked me ‘Do you wish you weren’t there that day?’ I said that, in some ways, I wish I wasn’t, but also, if I wasn’t there, someone else would have been stabbed and they could have died, so I’m glad I might have stopped someone else getting hurt’.”

Her father continued: “These are not the words that any little girl, who just liked yoga and making bracelets, should ever need to say. Her words both horrify us and make us immeasurably proud.

“Our daughter is strong. Our daughter is positive. Our daughter is brave. Our daughter is beautiful.

“Our daughter loves and is loved. Our daughter sees the best in everyone.

“Our daughter is everything that Axel Rudakabana is not.

“She is our hero.”

A 14-year-old girl who survived the attack, and cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court how the “day turned into a living nightmare”.

Reading her statement via video link, she said: “The beginning of my nightmare started when I saw you. I thought you were playing a joke. I saw you in your green hoody and face mask. The thing I remember most about you is your eyes. You didn’t look human, you looked possessed.

“I watched you stab someone and then I saw you coming for me. It was like slow motion. You stabbed me in the arm and instinctively I turned and that’s when you continued to stab me in the back although I didn’t feel it at the time. All I could hear was the screams.

“I was so scared of what you were doing and I was in a blind panic. I ran out onto the landing and there was a group of girls huddled and I began just screaming for the girls to get down the stairs.

“I remember I was physically pushing them down the stairs to get them out of the building and get away from you. I knew I was running for my life. I needed to try to get everyone out and to safety – that was my first thought.”

The court is now hearing victim impact statements from parents of children who were at The Hart Space last July.

Class instructor Leanne Lucas, 36, who was injured by Axel Rudakubana in the Southport knife attack, said: “I cannot give myself compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died.”

She said she had scars she “cannot unsee” which are a stark reminder of what “he has done to us” and had lost “my role, my job my purpose”.

“The trauma of being both a victim and witness has been horrendous. There were times when I would spiral into trauma and the effect this had on those close to me is unforgivable. The impact can be summed up with one word: ‘Trauma’.

“He targeted us because we were women and girls, vulnerable and easy prey. For (the girls) I’m surviving for you.”

The court heard Rudakubana was enrolled at The Acorns School, a pupil referral unit, in Ormskirk on 17 October 2019.

During his admission meeting he was asked why took a knife to his previous school, replying: “To use it.”

Rudakubana’s referrals to Prevent were for researching American school shootings during an IT class, uploading images of Colonel Gaddafi on and for researching the London Bridge terror attack, the court heard.

In October 2019 Rudakubana contacted Childline and asked, “What should I do if I want to kill somebody?”

Over the following days he confessed that he hated someone at school who bullied him, felt angry and wanted to kill them. He said he had taken a knife to school but would only use it if the person “really annoyed him”.

The court was told that as a result, a referral was made to the police, who visited the defendant at home. He confirmed that he had taken a knife to school and added that he thought he would use it if he became angry.

The school was informed, but by this stage Rudakubana had been temporarily excluded after attacking a pupil with a hockey stick. When he admitted taking a knife to school on about 10 previous occasions, his exclusion was made permanent.

After revealing his extensive browsing history of extreme violence prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said: “He was fascinated with violence of an extreme nature, that he had obtained information on killings and how to kill and obtained weapons capable of killing.

She added: “The evidence demonstrates that the stabbings on that day were premeditated and had been planned by the defendant for several weeks.”

On one of the tablets was found a document entitled. “Military studies in the Jihad against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual”. This is an academic paper containing the text of the Al-Qaeda Training Manual, which contains advice and instruction on committing acts of terror.

Of particular relevance are the following passages in the manual:

* The Tenth Lesson,37 which provides instruction on how to carry out Special Tactical Operations and refers to assassination and mass murder.

* The Sixteenth Lesson,38 which includes, “Assassinations Using Cold Steel

* Assassinating with a Knife”. This section provides advice on where the “enemy” should be struck in order to kill.

* The Sixteenth Lesson also provides advice on “Assassinations with Poison,” and in particular, it provides on the production of ricin from castor beans, which can be obtained from nurseries throughout the country, and explains that it is considered one of the most deadly poisons. The symptoms of ricin poisoning are set out.

The prosecutor said: “This manual had been downloaded on three occasions in 2021, meaning that it was already in the defendant’s possession by the time he purchased the castor beans and equipment required to produce ricin in early 2022. If that is right, then he clearly knew just how deadly a substance it was before he produced it.”

Police also found in the defendant’s bedroom a machete in a scabbard, a set of arrows and a black holdall.

In the living room, where the defendant is believed to have been sleeping, police found a second kitchen knife identical to the one the defendant took to The Hart Space and “a quantity of bottles with matches”.

Three computer devices were found which have been attributed to the defendant: two tablets and a laptop computer.

No material was obtained from the HP laptop computer becuae its internet browsing history Had been deleted on the 29th July 2024.

However both Lenovo tablets contained relevant material, including material which had been viewed by the defendant in the weeks leading up to the killings.

These included The Al-Qaeda manual.

Five minutes into the afternoon session Rudakubana has been physically removed after unleashing a fresh outburst.

He began yelling: “Judge, I need to be seen by a paramedic, I feel ill” prompting Judge Goose to order his removal from the dock.

Axel Rudakubana boasted: “I’m glad they’re dead” as he was held in a custody suite after killing three girls in a knife attack at a Southport dance class, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

The sickening gloat was among a number of vile comments the twisted teen made whilst in being held in custody ahead of his expected trial this week.

During official police interviews over the slaying of defenceless Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last July, the cowardly killer remained silent.

And he also opted not to speak during any court hearings, refusing to even confirm his name and age when requested by court officials.

But he couldn’t keep his silence up in his cell, making a series of vile unsolicited boasts about his crimes.

Following the defendant’s arrest, the police began searching his home but it soon came to a halt because in the defendant’s bedroom, under the bed, they discovered a Tupperware container which contained a pulp-like material which they suspected may be ricin.

Due to the risk to public health, the search was halted until specialist protective equipment was available.

When the search resumed a number of items were recovered from the defendant’s bedroom and taken to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) at Porton Down, where they were examined by Dr Pearce, an expert in chemical and biological warfare agents.

He concluded that the Tupperware container did indeed contain actively toxic ricin pulp, which had been produced from castor beans using equipment found in the defendant’s bedroom.

Axel Rudakubana has been seen and assessed and deemed fit and able to return to court.

Judge Goose says if he disrupts he will be removed but must be in court when he passes sentence.

The Amazon driver who delivered the knife used in the Southport murders handed the package to an adult who was “visibly over 25 years old”, the retailer has said.

Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana used a knife that he bought from Amazon when he was still 17 to kill three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, in July last year.

The sale of knives with a fixed blade of more than three inches long to under-18s is illegal in England and Wales, with retailers facing fines or prosecution if they breach the law.

Amazon continues to list what appears to be the same knife used by Rudakubana – a Cerbera Apollo chef knife with a 20cm blade – for £1.70.

A note on the listing says that age verification is required to order the knife.

The note reads: “This product is not for sale to people under the age of 18 and will require an online age verification check. To confirm the recipient is over 18, valid photographic ID with a date of birth may also be required upon delivery. The driver will input your year of birth into their device and may then require an ID check to complete the age verification process.”

The MP for Southport has said he would like to see a law change which could allow for whole-life sentences in cases like that of Axel Rudakubana.

Ruhakana, who will be sentenced today for the murders of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town, is not expected to receive a whole-life order as he was under 18 when he carried out the attack last summer.

Patrick Hurley, the Labour MP for Southport, told Radio 4’s World at One: “There appears to be no reason, no rationale, that I can accept that he would not be treated as an adult for the purposes of sentencing here, and if that’s not going to be the case, then I would like to see the law changed to make it the case.”

Mr Hurley had earlier told the the news coming out of the court was “absolutely appalling” and said Rudakubana had shown “utter disrespect to the families” of victims because of his behaviour in court.

Danielle Heer said dance instructor Leanne Lucas, who was 35, was taken to the Aintree University Hospital in a life threatening condition and required an urgent transfusion “due to major blood loss”.

Ms Heer said: “The force involved in inflicting these wounds was likely to have been at or approaching severe force.”

The hearing has now been adjourned for lunch and will resume at 2 pm.

Mr Justice Goose said: “I’d like to receive, not in open court, but an update on what’s happened so far as the defendant is concerned.”

Two paramedics came into the dock with officers as evidence was being heard.

Third victim Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, managed to get out of the building alive but her blood was found in the studio near the tables around which the children were gathered making bracelets, suggesting she had initially been stabbed in this area.

Further spots of her blood were found on the skirting board of the stairs which investigators believe could be the result of her receiving further injuries from Rudakubana as she fled down the stairway.

She was treated by a paramedic outside the scene but had sustained a number of severe wounds and was in cardiac arrest. She was taken to hospital where doctors were able to re-establish a pulse but they could not control her bleeding. Despite emergency surgery, her injuries were too serious to survive and she was pronounced dead at 1.20am the following morning.

A post mortem examination was conducted found that six-year-old Bebe King had suffered at least 122 sharp force injuries.

In the opinion of the pathologist, Bebe’s injuries were untreatable however quickly emergency help arrived

Ms Heer said 13 people suffered stab injuries, three of whom were killed. Many of the stab wounds that were inflicted caused bony injury indicating that they were inflicted with a severe degree of force. Many were inflicted to the back of the victims, suggesting they were inflicted as the victims were trying to escape.

Elsie Dot Stancombe aged 7 years was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her body was found lying just inside the door to the studio, but when the scene was analysed, it suggested that she was initially attacked by the window because a trail of her blood led towards the door where, it seems, she collapsed before she could get out of the room. There was also spots of her blood at a low level on the studio door, suggesting that she received further blows after she had collapse, whilst lying on the floor.

She had suffered at least 85 injuries.

Police body cam footage shows an officer entering the building which has blood on the walls. They bravely detain the knifeman as he lies screaming on the floor.

One of the officers says of either Elsie or Bebe “she’s dead”.

The court was shown horrific footage of Rudakubana arriving at the door of the Hart Space and after trying the locked front door he makes his way up a side door and walks up the stairwell.

Around 20 seconds later piercing screams of young female children erupt before children come running out of the centre.

CCTV footage shows Alice staggering out to her parents car fatally wounded before she collapses in the Hart Space car park.

The prosecutor asks if anyone wanted to leave court before they show further clips.

Alice’s mum and dad remain in court and want to see their daughter’s final moments.

A mum of one of the surviving wounded girls says “she’s on her own there” as they show her staggering from the building, unable to keep up with her fleeing friends.

Ms Heer explains how Axel Rudakubana entered the studio without saying a word. He grabbed the child nearest to him from behind and put his arm around her as she sat at a table making a bracelet.

At first Leanne Lucas thought he was there to collect her, but he then moved on to a second child and then a third child – Alice Da Silva Aguiar. He moved quickly through the room without saying anything. It was only when he reached her and she felt a knife go into her back, that Leanne Lucas realised he was armed and stabbing them.

Ms Heer said Rudakubana booked a taxi to collect him and take him to The Hart Space where the Taylor Swift event was in full flow. The booking was made in the name “Simon”.

Dash cam footage shows he remained silent during the journey. He left the vehicle without paying as the driver followed him, making repeated requests for payment. His subsequent movements were documented.

The footage showed that, at about 11.45 the defendant entered The Hart Space and went upstairs towards the studio in which the dance event was taking place.

Within 30 seconds, screams can be heard coming from within, followed by children fleeing from the building.

At the time the defendant entered the building all 26 children were in the first floor studio, together with the two women running the workshop, Leanne Lucas and Heidi Liddle, where they were gathered around the tables making bracelets and singing along to Taylor Swift songs.

Because of the heat, Leanne Lucas went to open a window. As she did so, she recalls seeing the defendant outside but thought nothing of it.

Ms Heer said all 26 children who attended the event were in danger at the time of the attack.

She explained how Axel Rudakubana lived about 5 miles away from The Hart Space where the event took place.

Ms Heer said: “At about 11.10 he left his address on foot. Despite the weather, he was dressed in a green hooded sweatshirt, with the hood pulled over his head. His face was covered with a surgical mask.

“He had with him a kitchen knife with a 20cm-long blade, manufactured by Apollo Cerbera. It was one of two identical knives he had purchased from Amazon on the 13th July 2024, taking steps to hide his identity.”

One of the victim’s relatives shouted “coward” as they led Axel Rudakubana out.

Medical staff have seen Rudakubana but would like the second opinion of a doctor. The judge gave his consent but said the sentencing will continue.

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana turned to a dock officer as the opening note was read at his sentencing and said: “I’m not fine, I feel ill.”He shouted repeatedly: “I need to speak to a paramedic, I feel ill.”He added: “You’re not giving me any support judge, I feel ill.”

Axel Rudakubana has entered the dock at Liverpool Crown Court wearing a grey tracksuit and surgical mask.He immediately sat and put his head down onto his knees.He did not respond at all when asked to confirm his name.An intermediary sat in the dock next to him.More than 30 members of the victims’ families sat in the public gallery of the dock for the sentencing hearing and the court heard there were others in an annexe.Twelve members of the media were in court, with others in an overspill and more than 70 people watching on a link.

Axel Rudakubana is in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court with his head down.

Southport attacker Axel Rudakubanka was before his sentencing hearing this morning.

The triple murderer , 18, “required medical attention” and was taken to hospital in the early hours, according to government sources.

However, his condition was not deemed serious enough to delay his sentencing hearing, and he was taken to Liverpool Crown Court this morning as scheduled.

Courtroom number 5.4 at Liverpool Crown Court, where Axel Rudakubana is due to be sentenced from 11am is at capacity with relatives of the three murdered girls and police packed onto the public benches, with journalists crammed onto jury panel seats

Deanna Heer KC and Philip Astbury will appear for the prosecution, with Stanley Reiz KC and Carmel Wilde representing the defendant.

High Court judge Mr Justice Goose will be passing sentence.

Protesters outside Liverpool Crown Court waved placards saying: “Leave our innocent kids alone” as Axel Rudakubana arrived this morning.

A placard behind them said “stop anti-white violence”.

It’s not clear who organised the demonstration.

Evil Axel Rudakubana was left free to kill three innocent young girls despite spending years on the radar of police, anti-extremism authorities and multiple other public agencies.

Despite repeated concerns being raised over the twisted teen’s sickening obsession with extreme violence, there was only ever limited intervention.

Prime Minister Sir has acknowledged the “state had failed” as he launched a public inquiry over the repeated missed opportunities to stop Rudakubana’s deadly descent.

Warnings were first raised when he was an 11-year-old year nine pupil at Range High School in Formby, Merseyside. Having appeared in a Children In Need campaign video as Dr Who, he told teachers his dreams of becoming a musical theatre star, but regular outbursts of anger towards classmates seemed at odds with his creative aspirations.

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Axel Rudakubana cannot receive a whole life order because he was 17 years old at the time of his offences. Under UK law, whole life orders are typically reserved for offenders aged 21 and over.

Recent legislative changes have allowed judges to impose whole life orders in exceptional cases for offenders aged 18 to 20.

However, this discretion does not extend to individuals who were under 18 at the time of their crime.

Therefore, despite the severity of his actions, Rudakubana is ineligible for a whole life order due to his age at the time of the offence.

A prison van believes to contain triple killer, Axel Rudakubana has been pictured arriving at Liverpool Crown Court.

Crowds are gathering outside.

Axel Rudakubana, born on 7 August 2006 in Cardiff to Rwandan immigrant parents, carried out a devastating attack in Southport on 29 July 2024.

At 17 years old, he fatally stabbed three young girls during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and attempted to murder ten others.

Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, Rudakubana had a history of violent behaviour, including a school exclusion in 2019 for threatening to bring a knife to school and assaulting a fellow student.

Despite multiple referrals to the Prevent counter-extremism programme, his escalating obsession with violence and genocide went unchecked.

He was found in possession of an al-Qaida training manual and had attempted to produce the deadly poison ricin.

He pleaded guilty on Monday at Liverpool Crown Court, Rudakubana pleaded guilty to all charges, including three counts of murder, ten of attempted murder, and terrorism-related offences.

Rudukubana’s knife rampage Southport on 29 July 2024 claimed the lives of three young girls: six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar.

The incident occurred during a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop at the Hart Space community studio, which was attended by 25 children.

In addition to the three fatalities, eight other children sustained injuries, with five reported in critical condition. The workshop’s organiser, yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, was also critically injured while protecting the children.

Another adult passerby, John Hayes, was injured during the attack. The victims were treated at various hospitals, including Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, which declared a major incident due to the severity of the situation.

The government has declared the case a wake-up call. Prime Minister said it must lead to “fundamental change” in the way the state protects its citizens, announcing a public inquiry into the failures that allowed Rudakubana to carry out his rampage with a knife he had ordered from Amazon.

He said laws might need updating to combat a “new threat” from violent individuals whose mix of motivations test the traditional definition of terrorism, “acts of extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms.”

The Crown Prosecution Service has defended the decision not to disclose details before Rudakubana went to court, saying “releasing that information earlier would have put the trial at risk.”

Contempt of court laws limit what can be reported before trial, in the interests of preventing jury bias.

The attack occurred on the first day of summer vacation when two dozen little girls were in a class to learn yoga and dance to the songs of Taylor Swift.

What was supposed to be a day of joy turned to terror and heartbreak when Rudakubana, armed with a knife, intruded and began stabbing the girls and their teacher.

The killings in the northwest England town triggered days of anti-immigrant violence across the country after far-right activists seized on incorrect reports that the attacker was an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in the UK. Some suggested the crime was a jihadi attack, and alleged that police and the government were withholding information.

Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales to Christian parents from Rwanda, and investigators have not been able to pin down his motivation.

A violence-obsessed teenager will today be jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for stabbing three young girls to death at a Taylor Swift-themed summer dance class in Southport.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, will be sentenced on Thursday over the July 29 attack, which devastated the seaside town, shocked the country and set off both street violence and soul-searching.

The crime triggered anti-immigrant rioting and has led the government to reconsider its definition of terrorism, its approach to online radicalisation and the way information about criminal suspects is made public.

Rudakubana was charged with three counts of murder, 10 of attempted murder for those he injured, and additional charges of possessing a knife, the poison ricin and an al-Qaida manual. He unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty on all charges on Monday – sparing victims’ families a lengthy trial, but also potentially robbing them of answers.