Nicholas Prosper: Teenager who murdered mother and siblings jailed for at least 49 years
A teenager who was planning a mass shooting at his old primary school has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 49 years for murdering his family.
Nicholas Prosper, from Luton, pleaded guilty to the murder of his mother, Juliana Falcon, 48, and his siblings, Kyle Prosper, 16, and 13-year-old Giselle Prosper at Luton Crown Court in February.
In sentencing, the judge said the words “heartless and brutal” were insufficient to describe the horror of the last moments suffered by his victims.
Their bodies were found at their flat in the town in September last year.
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Prosper, who was planning a mass shooting at his former primary school, was arrested after the phone call.
The 19-year-old planned to carry out a mass shooting at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, where Prosper and his siblings had been pupils, he admitted to police.
The court heard his aim was to be known as “the world’s most famous school shooter of the 21st century”.
Giselle Prosper (left), Juliana Prosper (centre), Kyle Prosper (right) found dead in a flat in Luton, Leabank, on Friday 13 September 2024. Pic: family pics issued via Bedfordshire police
Police believe he killed his family when his mother found a shotgun he had bought using a fake certificate and confronted him.
His scheme was eventually foiled by officers who spotted him in the street immediately after the murders and arrested him.
The loaded shotgun was found hidden in bushes nearby, along with more than 30 cartridges.
Nicholas Prosper holding a plank of wood as a mock firearm.
Pic: Bedfordshire Police/PA
Prosper obtained the shotgun by deception. Pic: Bedfordshire Police
As his sentencing started on Tuesday, the court heard that “his planning was cold, deliberate and without sympathy or emotion towards the actual victims or potential victims”.
Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the details of Prosper’s case were “chilling”, and that he had wanted to emulate and outdo the US school massacres at Sandy Hook in 2012 and Virginia Tech in 2007.
His “main wish”, according to the prosecution, was notoriety, telling a prison nurse “I wish I had killed more”.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Prosper had not hated his mother or siblings and had “had a good life with them”, but that his intention had been to kill them in their sleep and rape his sister.
“Each victim suffered the anguish of anticipating or being aware of the deaths of others,” she said.
In explaining why she had opted not to impose a whole-life sentence, the judge said: “A minimum term does not in any way equate to the value of the life of a murder victim, still less three such victims.”
She acknowledged that Prosper had autism spectrum disorder, but said she was satisfied that it did not affect his decision-making enough to be the primary reason why he carried out the killings.
“A murder spree with the sole aim of glorifying the name of the perpetrator in the history of mass killers is what you intended,” she said.
“You have also expressed no remorse and no sorrow. Indeed, when asked by the psychiatrist if you would try to commit another massacre, you replied: ‘Well, that’s their job to stop me getting the weapons if I get released’.“
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb added: “Your plans were intelligent, calculated and unselfish. Your ambition was notoriety. You wanted to be known posthumously as the world’s most famous school shooter of the 21st century.
“Words such as heartless and brutal are insufficient to describe the horror of those last moments of the people who were closest to you.”
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Officer DCI Sam Khanna says the Nicholos Prosper case is the most ‘distressing’ he’s ever worked on.
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A statement from the family of the victims was read outside the court.
It said they now understood the deaths had “much more meaning and importance” because they “stopped any other family in the community going through the pain we have suffered”.
“For now, we would ask people to remember Juliana, Kyle and Giselle for the people they were. Julie was a strong, loving mother to her four children, who were her absolute world.
“Kyle was a kind and funny young man who loved football and boxing. He was a big talent with massive potential. Giselle was a beautiful soul and caring young girl with an infectious smile. She was also an exceptional pupil at school and was loved dearly by her friends.”
NHS England has warned the health service is facing a “worst case scenario” December with a surge of “super flu”.
The warning comes as new figures revealed the number of people in hospital with flu have increased by more than half in just one week.
Catch up as it happened: NHS warns of ‘worst-case scenario’ as ‘super flu’ surges
Latest figures show:
• An average of 2,660 patients were in hospital per day with flu last week
• This is the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% on last week
• At this point last year the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402
Health service bosses are warning the number of flu patients in hospital has already increased sharply since the week covered by this data – with no peak in sight.
Read more: Why is flu season worse this year?
Virus outbreaks coincide with doctors’ strikes
Weekly flu numbers in England peaked at 5,408 patients last winter and reached 5,441 over the winter of 2022/23, the highest level since the pandemic.
Alongside rocketing flu, the number of norovirus patients in hospital has also risen by 35%.
The NHS is now warning winter viruses are starting to “engulf hospitals”.
Demand for A&Es and ambulance services is also soaring.
New monthly figures show A&E attendances were a record for November at 2.35 million – more than 30,000 higher than November 2024.
In addition, there were 48,814 more ambulance incidents (802,525) compared with last year (753,711).
Some hospitals across the country have asked staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks to cut the spread of flu, while others have gone in and out of critical incident status due to the high number of people attending A&E.
The record-breaking demand on the NHS coincides with a resident doctors’ strike from 17 to 22 December over pay and jobs – sparking fears of major disruption for patients in the run up to Christmas.
People are being advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.
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Will doctors accept late deal to avoid strikes?
Flu vaccinations on the up… who can get one?
The NHS is urging anyone eligible to get their flu vaccination to help prevent them getting seriously ill.
Latest figures show more than 17.4 million people have been vaccinated so far this year, more than 381,000 higher than last year.
You can get it if you:
• Are 65 or over in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Are pregnant
• Live in a care home
• Are the main carer for an older or disabled person, or receive carer’s allowance
• Live with someone who has a weakened immune system
• Are a frontline health and social care worker
• Are of school age
• Have certain medical conditions (the NHS has a full list)
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, warned of a “tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals”.
“We are working with the NHS to make sure it is able to cope with this as best as possible,” he said.
Warning ‘extremely challenging few weeks ahead’
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, warned the health service faces “an extremely challenging few weeks ahead” with “staff being pushed to the limit”.
She said: “With record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors’ strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.
“The numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year. Even worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.”
She added: “We have prepared earlier for winter than ever before, and stress-tested services to ensure people have a range of ways to get the help they need and avoid needing to go to A&E.
“For non-life-threatening care, people should call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place, and use A&E and 999 for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.”
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Mr Streeting has offered the British Medical Association (BMA) a last-minute deal in the hope doctors will call off the walkout, which starts next Wednesday.
The doctors’ union has agreed to put the offer to members over the coming day, and is expected to announced a decision on Monday, just two days before the planned strike.
The offer includes a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees, but does not include extra pay.
The spread of subclade K, the super flu, is picking up – and it’s not looking good for the NHS.
An average of just under 2,700 hospital beds a day in England were occupied by patients with flu last week.
There are fears that could jump to somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 by the end of this week.
That’s on top of COVID and RSV.
And with the possibility of a five-day strike by resident (junior) doctors next week, it’s a perfect storm for hospitals.
An NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London. Pic: PA
Christmas flu
Children are the super-spreaders of flu. It races around classrooms and some schools have temporarily shut because of the impact.
The Christmas holidays aren’t far off. They are likely to put the brakes on children passing around the virus.
But it’s also a time of year when families mix with elderly relatives, who are more likely to be hit hard by the infection – perhaps even needing hospital care.
So while the holidays may temporarily slow the overall rise in infections, the impact on hospitals could get much worse.
File pic: PA
Subclade K
Flu is spreading so rapidly at the moment because immunity to subclade K from previous infections and vaccinations is low.
The virus – a variant of the H3N2 flu strain – suddenly acquired seven new mutations in late summer.
Every 100 people infected with seasonal flu would typically pass the virus on to 120 others.
With subclade K, it’s 140.
And that’s why cases are rising so quickly on the charts.
At the moment, 18 in every 100,000 patients in England are consulting their GP with flu-like symptoms. That’s still well short of the peak of around 50 in every 100,000 in 2017/18, the worst flu outbreak in recent years.
File pic: PA
The grim reality of flu
Flu is a really unpleasant disease, nothing like a cold. I’ve had it twice in my life and it physically hurt to get out of bed. It’s grim.
Most people get over it with a few days’ rest and paracetamol to take the edge off the fever.
But vulnerable people can become seriously ill. In the outbreak of 2017/18, around 22,000 died.
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That’s why the NHS is urging people in certain groups – the over 65s, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, carers and children – to get the jab.
The vaccine isn’t a great match for subclade K, but still reduces the chance of hospital admission by 30-40% in adults.
It’s impossible to say when the spread will peak, but the latest figures suggest the outbreak is far from over.
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