Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is a 'young psychopath' - but the sentencing rules are right, says ex-attorney general
23 January 2025, 21:03
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is a 'young psychopath' - but the sentencing rules are right, former attorney general Dominic Grieve has said.
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Axel Rudakubana was on Thursday sentenced to a minimum of 52 years for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, amongst other charges.
He also admitted the attempted murders of eight other children - who cannot be named for legal reasons - class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Due to him being 17 years old when he carried out the attack, Rudakubana was not able to be given a whole life tariff, with many criticising the leniency.
But speaking to LBC's Iain Dale Mr Grieve said he does not see a reason to change the law for those under 18.
When asked if he felt justice had been served, he said: "Yes, I do. This is a psychopathic and perverted young man who has received a sentence which will almost certainly mean that he's going to be detained for the rest of his life, even if it may have a 52 year minimum tariff. And that is really all that the state can do.
"It is worth pointing out to those who want to restore the death penalty that we haven't had the death penalty for those under 18 for several hundred years."
He continued: "The warning signs that this was a young psychopath were there and there seems to have been inadequate steps taken to deal with it.
"That's not to do with terrorism. It's to deal with dealing with somebody who is clearly both unempathetic towards his fellow human beings and shows signs of dangerousness.
"That's going to have to be looked at by the public inquiry."
The inquiry has also been welcomed by the victims' families, with them saying "It has been very clear from the outset that it is wrong that a young person, who has grown up in our society, could commit such an unspeakable act of hatred.
"It is therefore right and proper that questions need to be asked."
A request has already been lodged with the Attorney General to "urgently" review the sentence, with Labour MP for Southport Patrick Hurley saying it was "unduly lenient".
"I have to say that, seeing that this is the toughest sentence I can ever think of imposed on somebody under the age of 18, in terms of the tariff itself and the fact that a whole life tariff is impossible in the case of somebody under the age of 18, I find it difficult to see how this sentence is unduly lenient," Mr Grieve said.
Asked what will be looked at as part of the review, he said: "Ultimately the tendency is to look at the guidelines. And I have to say the nature of this terrible crime rather is so extraordinary the guidelines may not cover it very readily."
He went on to say: "One of the reasons why we don't have whole life tariffs for adolescents is because there is a realisation that, unlike adults, they can change.
"Adolescence is a period of time when people do sometimes have a whole range of problems which in adulthood resolve themselves. One would have to be looking at 52 years down the track.
"It's difficult to see how somebody with his personality and the horror of this crime is likely to be readily released by the parole board. And for those reasons, I find it very hard to see how in fact there is any basis for conducting an unduly lenient sentence review."
