Southport attacks: Axel Rudakubana sentenced over murder of three girls
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Axel Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and lived in the village of Banks, near Southport, when he carried out the attack at the age of 17. Detectives investigating the murders found he had developed a deep and dark interest in extreme violence, spending hours researching genocide and watching graphic videos of murder.
![[On Monday, police released a mugshot of Axel Rudakubana, taken after his arrest.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cb1b115e2b3fc40eb993b28c03404148015bed38/0_680_1186_711/master/1186.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
He had been excluded from mainstream education, having taken a knife to school, and was described by one former school friend as “a ticking timebomb”. We are likely to get a little more detail on Rudakubana’s background and motives during the sentencing hearing today, though it may never be clear what drove the attack.
![[Rudakubana refused to speak or stand for the judge in any of his earlier hearings.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8dbf2a89e98dff900d6cf468cc0e1f73b71daa68/0_158_2016_1210/master/2016.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
After the guilty pleas were entered, the Crown Prosecution Service said:. It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence. He has shown no sign of remorse. The hearing is due to begin at 11am at Liverpool crown court, where the previous hearings in this case have taken place.
There is a large police presence around the court, where two police officers are stationed at the entrance. A huge queue snakes out of the building to pass through security due to extra checks this morning. Opposite the court building a small group of activists has unfolded a banner for Patriotic Alternative, a rightwing group.
Good morning. I’m Robyn Vinter, the Guardian’s north of England correspondent, in court for the sentencing of 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who has pleaded guilty to the murders of three children, Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe, in Southport on 29 July 2024.
