Axel Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison for murdering 3 British children.
Warning: This story contains details of violence involving minors.
A British judge on Thursday sentenced a teenager to a minimum of 52 years in prison for murdering three young girls after the killer took off from a cruise ship after disrupting his sentencing.
On Monday, 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice DaSilva Aguiar, 9, last July in the northern English city of Southport. Nationwide riots.
Two of his victims “suffered horrific injuries … which are difficult to explain other than tragic in nature,” prosecutor Dena Hare told Liverpool Crown Court earlier.
“I’m glad those kids are dead, it makes me happy,” Herr said Rudakubana told police after the shooting.
Rudakubana pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted murder, as well as manufacturing the deadly ricin and possessing al Qaeda training manuals. Eight of the 10 non-fatal victims were children.
The prosecutor said the Al Qaeda training manual contained advice on killing with knives, but Rudakubana was not motivated by political or religious ideology.
The kids attend a Taylor Swift-themed dance party, but there’s no indication the attacker knows exactly what’s going on in the Southport heartland.
Judge Julian Goth said Rudakubana was nine days shy of his 18th birthday at the time, meaning he could not be sentenced to “life” under British law, but he was confident he would be freed.
The murderer’s punishments for different crimes are the same.
Disruptive behavior has already been listed.
Herr said two of the girls suffered blunt force injuries of at least 85 and 122, which Rudakubana said was caused by a 20-centimetre-long knife he bought online from Amazon.
The court was shown video footage of screaming young girls fleeing the building, describing the terrifying scene. A bloodied girl was seen gasping and sobbing from the public gallery and collapsed outside.
“He had a long-standing interest in violence, murder and genocide,” Herr said, according to images and documents found on a computer in his home.
In the year In 2019, Rudakubana contacted the Children’s Helpline, the prosecutor said, and asked, “What should I do if I want to kill someone?” he asked.
He was kicked out of school shortly after admitting to carrying a knife 10 times there, and was later arrested with a knife in his backpack after returning to school and attacking a student with a hockey stick.
Shortly after the punishment hearing began, Rudakubana was removed from the ship for repeatedly shouting that he was unwell. “Coward,” shouted one man as he walked away.
The UK government wants social media companies to do more to stop the spread of misinformation after it spread on platforms like X and sparked violent protests.
Following the killing, riots across the country led to many arrests. Misinformation spread online that Rudakubana was a migrant and a Muslim.
The teenager was born in Cardiff, Wales to parents from Rwanda.