Southport child killer Axel Rudakubana jailed for life with minimum of 52 years
Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana has been jailed for a minimum of 52 years – with the judge saying it’s “highly likely” he will never be released.
Warning: This article contains details of violence that some readers might find distressing.
The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Southport murders latest – Killer likely to never be freed
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New footage shows killer before attack
Rudakubana also admitted trying to murder eight other children, as well as instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, on 29 July last year.
The judge, Mr Justice Goose, gave him 13 life sentences and said if Rudakubana had been 18 at the time of the attack he would have received a whole-life term – meaning no possibility of release.
He said the killings had caused “shock and revulsion” to the nation and Rudakubana would have killed all 26 children if he’d been able.
Alice, Bebe and Elsie were stabbed multiple times in a ferocious attack that lasted 15 minutes.
Prosecutors told the court that, while in custody, the 18-year-old said: “It’s a good thing those children are dead, I’m so glad, I’m so happy.”
Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King.
Pic: Merseyside Police
Rudakubana’s attack on “innocent, happy young girls” was clearly premeditated and he had showed no remorse, the judge added.
He will be 70 before a parole board can consider releasing him, but the judge said it was “highly likely” he will never be freed.
The triple-killer was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court, but was not present for the judge’s remarks after telling his lawyer he would be “disruptive” during proceedings.
During sentencing earlier in the day he was twice ordered out of the dock after shouting that he “felt ill”.
Rudakubana told his lawyer he had chest pains, was too ill to continue and wanted to see a paramedic, but the judge said two paramedics had deemed him fit to continue.
‘How can I live knowing children died?’
Before sentencing, the court heard emotional statements from victims and families.
Alice’s family – who had been planning to surprise her with a trip to Disneyland – said she was “strong and confident” with “unlimited potential”. They said her death had “shattered our souls”.
Elsie’s mum said Rudakubana was a coward and “beyond contempt”.
“He took our daughter. There’s no greater loss and no greater pain. He has left us with a lifetime of grief,” she said.
Dance teacher Leanne Lucas, who was stabbed in the back, said she couldn’t give herself “compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died?”.
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‘Most harrowing case ever’ – police chief
Killer pulled girl back inside
Rudakubana was 17 when he walked into the dance studio before silently, indiscriminately stabbing his victims with a kitchen knife – a 20cm blade he had bought on Amazon using encrypted software to hide his identity.
He stabbed some of his victims in the back as they tried to escape, pulling one girl back inside to attack her – she was knifed dozens of times but survived.
Police arrested Rudakubana inside the Hart Space venue as he stood over a body, still holding the knife.
Officers later found a plastic kitchen box containing the toxin ricin under his bed in the village of Banks, Lancashire, along with other weapons including a machete and arrows.
Ricin was found in a box at his home. Pic: Merseyside Police
An analysis of his devices revealed an obsession with violence, war and genocide, with documents discovered including an academic study of an al Qaeda training manual.
Police believe he used techniques he learned from the PDF file, which contained instructions on how to commit knife and ricin attacks, to carry out the mass stabbing.
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‘Cowardly and vicious’
The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of producing ricin and possession of information useful for the purposes of terrorism.
The judge said it was highly likely he would have used the potent toxin if he hadn’t carried out the stabbing attack.
A machete was also found at Rudakubana’s home. Pic: Merseyside Police
Merseyside police chief Serena Kennedy said there was no evidence Rudakubana ascribed to any political or religious ideology and was not fighting for a cause, so the “cowardly and vicious attack” was not treated as terrorism.
“This is a young man with an unhealthy obsession with violence,” she said.
“His only purpose was to kill the youngest and most vulnerable and spread the greatest level of fear and outrage, which he succeeded in doing.”
The attack sparked the UK riots last summer after false claims online that Rudakubana – born in Cardiff to Christian parents from Rwanda – was a newly arrived asylum seeker.
Missed opportunities
The government has announced an inquiry into how the state failed to recognise the risk posed by Rudakubana and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he will consider changing the definition of terrorism if necessary.
The teenager was referred three times by schools to the government’s anti-extremism programme between 2019 and 2021 over concerns about his interest in school shootings, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and the London Bridge attacks.
He also had repeated contact with police, the courts, the justice system and mental health services in the years before he carried out the attack, including over using school computers to research acts of violence.
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How the attack unfolded
Rudakubana was expelled from school for saying he was carrying a knife in October 2019, but returned to attack another pupil with a hockey stick, while carrying a knife in his backpack.
He pleaded guilty to assault, possession of an offensive weapon, and possession of a knife over the incident and received a youth justice referral order focused on knife crime.
His parents called police four times about his behaviour, including on one occasion in May 2022 after they restricted his access to a computer.
On another occasion in March of the same year, a bus driver called the police because he had not paid the fare, and he told officers he had a knife, but they took him home to talk to his mother about securing knives at home.
No disciplinary proceedings have been brought against anyone involved in dealing with his case.
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
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Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
British Steel declined to comment.
UK
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
Read more:
Who is Yang Tenbo?
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He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.
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