Southport killer Axel Rudakubana will NOT receive whole life order for bizarre legal reason
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Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is not expected to receive a whole life order when he is sentenced on Thursday for murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift themed dance class. The 18-year-old changed his plea on Day One of a trial at Liverpool Crown Court where he was charged with the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; who died following the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at The Hart Space shortly before midday on July 29.
Rudakubana is due to be sentenced on Thursday, but is not expected to be handed a whole life order, which is a sentence considered for the most serious crimes, and means prisoners will die in jail. They will also never be considered for release unless there are exceptional compassionate grounds to warrant it.
But it is understood judges can only impose a whole life order on criminals who were aged 21 and over at the time of the offence, with the punishment only considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances. Rudakubana was 17 years old when he murdered three girls and tried to kill several others in a rampage at a dance class in Southport in July.
Rudakubana – who it can now be reported had been reported to the government's Prevent counter-extremism scheme at least three times – also pleaded to eight counts of attempted murder in relation to eight other children, who cannot be named. He has also pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes and admitted the possession of a bladed article in a public place, namely a kitchen knife with a curved blade.
