A British teenager who killed three girls in a stabbing frenzy has been sentenced to life in prison, and chilling details have emerged about how he investigated a knife attack in Sydney shortly before carrying out his attack.
The court heard that on the day of the murders, violence-obsessed Axel Rudakubana searched online for information about the knife attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, Sydney, six months earlier.
It was the last thing he investigated before going in to stab.
Sentencing Rudakubana to 13 life sentences for the three murders and 10 attempted murders, Judge Julian Goose said he believed it was “very likely that he will never be released”, and ordered that he serve a minimum of 52 years.
The judge said Rudakubana’s aim in his 15-minute spree had been the “mass murder of innocent and happy young people”.
If he had not been stopped, “he would have killed every single one of the children, all 26 of them, as well as any adult who stood in his way,” he said.
Sobs and gasps were heard in court as prosecutor Deanna Heer laid out details of the rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July in Southport, northwest England.
Rudakubana, then 17, was heard saying, “I’m glad they’re dead,” after he was arrested, Heer told the court.
Axel Rudakubana hides in the back of a taxi on his way to murder three girls
The court heard that on the day of the murders, violence-obsessed Axel Rudakubana searched online for information about the knife attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at Good Shepherd Church in Sydney.
She described how she burst into the spa studio where a group of young girls were sitting on the floor making bracelets, listening to Swift’s hit songs.
After his arrest, police found violent content on Rudakubana’s devices, including images of dead bodies, torture victims, beheadings, cartoons depicting murder, violence and rape or that insulted or mocked different religions.
He then traveled to the location of the dance class in a taxi armed with a 20 centimeter long kitchen knife.
“Within 30 seconds, screams can be heard coming from inside, followed by children fleeing the building,” Heer said.
Rudakubana, now 18, pleaded guilty Monday to killing the three girls who died in the attack: Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine. Bebe was stabbed 122 times, the judge revealed.
“The girl of our dreams was taken from us in such a horrible and undignified manner that it destroyed our souls,” Aguiar’s parents said in a statement to the court.
Stancombe’s mother called her daughter’s killer “cruel and evil”, saying his actions were those of “a coward”.
The judge twice ordered Rudakubana to leave court after repeatedly shouting that he felt unwell. He was not present in court to hear the sentence, as he refused to return.
And undated family file photo issued by Merseyside Police of Ben, Lauren, Bebe, aged six, and Genie King (below right), aged nine. Bebe died during the attack at The Hart Space
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was among three girls who died in the attack in Southport.
living nightmare
Heer said that on July 29, dance teacher Heidi Liddle was sitting on the floor helping to make bracelets when she saw Rudakubana walk in and start “attacking the children.”
He started to push them towards the exit, but after one of the girls ran into the bathroom, he followed her and closed the door.
‘Outside you heard the children shouting and then the door rang. When he heard voices outside the door asking the accused to stop, he realized that not all the children had managed to escape,” Heer said, adding that some were stabbed in the back while fleeing.
Some relatives in the public gallery were crying. Others sat with their heads in their hands and wiped their eyes as harsh security camera footage showed frightened and screaming children fleeing the scene.
In victim impact statements read to the court, a 14-year-old survivor who was stabbed in the arm said the day became a “living nightmare”.
‘What I remember most about you (Rudakubana) are your eyes. “You didn’t look human, you looked possessed,” he said.
Class instructor Leanne Lucas, 36, who was also injured, said that since the attack she could no longer be home alone, go to work or walk down the street.
“The impact this has had on me can be summed up in one word: trauma,” he said. “He attacked us because we were women and girls, vulnerable and easy prey,” she added.
Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to possession of a sword, producing a biological toxin (ricin) and possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual.
The knife that was used in the attack.
The murderer photographed in a mugshot
unrest
The teenager’s attack caused a wave of revulsion in the United Kingdom. But viral disinformation that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker sparked anti-immigrant riots in more than a dozen towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland.
In fact, Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to parents of Rwandan origin and lived in Banks, a village northeast of Southport.
His church-going Christian parents, both ethnic Tutsi, came to Britain in the years after the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Their church has said they are now in hiding for their protection.
The attack has not been treated as a terrorist incident and he was never charged with terrorism offences, prompting criticism from some.
Rudakubana was referred three times to the government’s national anti-extremism scheme, Prevent, over concerns about his obsession with violence.
A public inquiry has been announced to look into how the police, courts and social care services failed to detect the risk he posed.