Southport killer Axel Rudakubana should 'rot in jail', says victim's parent ahead of sentencing
23 January 2025, 00:58 | Updated: 23 January 2025, 01:50
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana should 'rot in jail', a victim's parent has said ahead of his sentencing.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Rudakubana, 18, will be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to murdering three girls in July last year.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, when the attack happened.
The 18-year-old also admitted the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
However, he cannot get a whole life tariff as he was under 18 when he carried out the attack.
Speaking out ahead of his sentencing, a parent of one of the children who needed surgery after the stabbings called for a change to rules.
Read more: Southport killer Axel Rudakubana ‘carried a knife more than ten times and bought blade on Amazon’
Who is Axel Rudakubana?
The parent, who has not been identified to protect his child, said Rudakubana should "rot in jail".
"He was only a few days off his 18th birthday when he committed these most horrendous offences," he told the Sun.
"Why should he be spared a whole life tariff when he hasn’t spared a thought for any of the victims' families? Life should mean life.
"Even if he gets 40 years, it’s not enough. He could be out to enjoy the latter part of his life. The three little girls he murdered can’t do that. If that means the law needs changing, so be it.
"He’s an adult and should be tried like one. His crimes are so horrific, an exception should be made by the judge."
The man said that his child was still struggling "mentally" following the attack.
He went on to say that Rudakubana "only changed his plea in the hope of getting a reduction in his sentence. It was to try to save his own skin".
It emerged on Monday that Rudakubana was referred to the government's counter-terrorism Prevent programme three times before the incident due to his general "obsession with violence".
His behaviour was assessed by the programme as potentially concerning but he was deemed not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology or pose a terrorist danger and was therefore not considered suitable for the counter-radicalisation scheme.
After he pleaded guilty on Monday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) described him as a "young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence" and said he had shown no signs of remorse.
"This day didn’t need to happen if people in his past dealt with the problem when presented with it," the parent told the paper.
"There were several chances to stop this horrific outcome, so the blame ultimately lands with every organisation that came across him. It’s one massive failure of people."
A public inquiry has been announced into the stabbings, intended to "get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change".
