David Aguiar / Facebook
Alice Aguiar is one of the victims of the attack
The young man who killed three children and injured 10 others in Southport, northwest England, in July last year was sentenced to 52 years in prison, but “is likely never to be released” – said the judge.
Axel Rudakubana he was 17 when, in July, he attacked a dance class in the coastal town of Southport, killing girls aged six, seven and nine and injuring eight other children and two adults.
One of the children, Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9 years old, was Portuguese.
The killer was sentenced this Thursday to a sentence of 52 years in prison, but, according to the judge, “he will probably never be released”.
Judge Julian Goose said he could not impose a sentence of life without parole because Rudakubana was under 18 when he committed the crime.
A penalty of 52 yearsminus the six months he was detained, before being considered for parole, and “it is likely that he will never be released”, he added.
Axel was charged with three murders, ten attempted murders and additional counts of possession of a makeof castor poison and of a manual da Al-Qaeda.
During the sentencing at Liverpool Criminal Court, the judge said Axel attacked the children with “extreme and horrific violence” and committed “a mass murder of young, happy children”.
“It was such extreme violence of such severity that it is difficult to understand why he did it. I am sure that Rudakubana wanted to commit these crimes and that, If he could, he would have killed each of the 26 children and the adults that got in their way”, he stressed.
Murders sparked across the country after far-right activists seized on incorrect information that the attacker was a asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK. Others suggested the crime was an attack jihadist and alleged that the police and government were withholding information.
More than 1,200 people were arrested in connection with the riots and hundreds were sentenced to prison terms of up to nine years.
On the day of the crime
Axel, armed with a knife, entered an event at a dance school inspired by American artist Taylor Swift and began stabbing the girls and their teacher.
A video of the suspect arriving at Hart Space in a taxi and entering the building was shown to the court. Within seconds, screams were heard and children ran outside in panic, some of them injured.
A girl managed to get to the door, but was pulled inside by her attacker. She was stabbed 32 times, but survived.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer described how the attack occurred on the first day of summer vacation, when 26 girls were “gathered around tables making bracelets and singing Taylor Swift songs.”
“His only objective was to kill and he targeted younger people and the most vulnerable in society”, added the prosecutor, while the victims’ families watched in the courtroom.
Heer said that when he was taken to a police station, Rudakubana was heard saying: “I’m glad those children are dead, I’m so happy, I’m so happy.”
Axel was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Christian parents from Rwanda, and his Investigators have not yet been able to determine the motive behind the attack.
The police found documents on their devices on topics such as Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and booby-trapped cars.
One of the children killed in the attack in Southport had Portuguese nationality. The parents are originally from the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
The Portuguese child, who was born on October 15, 2014, was registered at the Consulate of Portugal in Manchester.
The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmerconsidered that this case is an example of how the country faces “a new threat of terrorism” of violent attacks carried out by lonely young peopleand promised new measures.
The Government announced an inquiry into the case to determine why Axel Rudakubana was not enrolled in an official anti-radicalization program, considering he was assessed three times by authorities due to his obsession with violence.
