British teenager who killed three girls in dance class jailed for 52 years | Crime news

Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison for killing three girls.

A teenager who last year killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, UK, has been jailed for more than 50 years.

Judge Julian Guss said on Thursday that 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana “wanted to try to commit mass murder of innocent, happy young girls”.

The judge said he could not impose a life sentence without parole because Rudakubana was under 18 at the time of the crime.

But the judge said he must serve a minimum of 52 years before being considered for parole and “will probably never be released.”

Rudakubana was 17 when he attacked small children in the seaside town of Southport last July.

He killed three girls – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine – and injured eight other children as well as two adults.

On Monday, Rudakubana confessed to the murders. He also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted murder, manufacturing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an al Qaeda training manual.

The prosecutor said Rudakubana had no political or religious cause but had a “long-standing obsession with violence, murder, genocide.”

Rudakubana was not in court to hear his sentencing. Earlier in the process, he was suspended for disruptive behavior.

Riots

Following the Rudakubana attack, far-right activists seized on false reports on social media that the attacker was an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK.

Reports on social media sparked weeks of anti-immigrant clashes with police and crowds took to the streets of the city in the United Kingdom to attack minorities and Muslims.

Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales to Rwandan Christian parents. Investigators have not been able to establish a motive for his crimes.

In the years before the attack, Rudakubana had been reported to numerous authorities for his violent interests and actions.

The government has ordered a public inquiry, saying there are serious questions that need to be answered.

“After one of the most harrowing moments in our country's history, we owe it to these innocent young girls and everyone affected to bring about the change they deserve,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.