Inside Liverpool Crown Court, a tense silence descended as victim’s families gathered in the public gallery, anxiously waiting for Southport killer Axel Rudakubana to enter the dock.
They watched as Rudakubana, tall and slight, finally entered the glass-screened dock wearing a grey prison-issue tracksuit and a surgical facemask like the one he wore on the day he targeted 26 defenceless girls at a Taylor Swift themed holiday class in Southport last July.
He refused to speak when asked to confirm his identity and sat slumped in the dock with his head bowed accompanied by five dock officers.
Rudakubana, 18, was not in court as his victim’s spoke of their anguish after he started shouting from the dock.
Every seat was taken, with some choosing to sit in parts of the public gallery with no view of the dock.
