The British government said Friday it has no plans to change a law barring young people from being imprisoned for life, despite widespread demands for the teenage killer of three young girls to die behind bars. Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to serve at least 52 years for a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
The sentence means he cannot apply for parole until he is almost 70, and judge Julian Goose said “it is likely he will never be released.”. The judge said Thursday that by law he could not impose a sentence of life without parole because Rudakubana was 17 when he attacked the children in the seaside town of Southport in July, killing Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6. He wounded eight other girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, and two adults.
Patrick Hurley, the Labour Party lawmaker who represents Southport in Parliament, said the sentence was “unduly lenient” and that he had asked the attorney general to review it. “We need a sentence that represents the severity of this crime that has terrorized the victims and their families,” he said.
Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said “there is a strong case” for changing the law so under-18s can be jailed for life. The government said international agreements such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child prevent unlimited sentences or the death penalty being imposed on youths under 18.
