Keir Starmer rules out whole-life order for Southport killer Axel Rudakubana due to international law
25 January 2025, 01:23 | Updated: 25 January 2025, 01:29
Keir Starmer has ruled out a whole-life order for Southport killer Axel Rudakubana due to international law.
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Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 52 years in prison on Thursday for the murder of three girls and the attempted murder of eight more, as well as two adults.
He killed Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, in July last year.
Sentencing him on Thursday, the court confirmed the killer could not be jailed for life because he was 17 at the time of the attack, despite his "determination" to inflict "extreme violence".
He was just nine days short of his 18th birthday.
The case has sparked calls for a change in the law, enabling whole-life orders to be imposed on under-18s in exceptional circumstances.
However, the PM rule out such a move on Friday. His spokesman said a UN convention protecting children's rights means they are not allowed to be locked up for the rest of their lives.
Nick Ferrari has questions after Axel Rudakubana's sentencing
The spokesman said: "First of all, we share the public's disgust at these barbaric crimes and the desire for this vile offender never to be on our streets again."
He added: "We’re restricted in our ability to extend whole life orders to under-18s by UN laws, something that the previous government recognised when it changed the law in this area previously.
"On a specific point on whole life orders, that’s not something we’re looking at."
Attorney general Lord Hermer has been advised on the issue, the spokesman indicated.
He said: "As you’d expect, we take our commitment to international law seriously and clearly we would take the normal range of advice on this."
It comes after a request was made to the attorney general to have Rudakubana's sentence reviewed amid concerns it is "unduly lenient".
Southport's MP Patrick Hurley called for him to be handed a longer sentence to ensure he dies in prison.
"In my view, the sentence passed is unduly lenient," he said. "The crimes he committed were horrific and natural justice demands he spends the rest of his life behind bars.
"I have therefore made a request to the attorney general to have the sentence reviewed urgently, with a view to making sure he is never released. My community deserves nothing less."
