Editorial 24.01.2025
Almost every front page of the Friday national newspapers led with pictures of the three young girls who were murdered in Southport last summer as they attended a dance class. The papers’ lead articles react to the 52-year sentencing of the killer Axel Rudakubana, the opportunities missed to stop him from carrying out his horrific crime and the statements from the parents of the victims.
Elsewhere, the UK is bracing for 100mph winds as Storm Eowyn barrels down on the country.
The back pages lead on English football teams, with Manchester United’s 2-1 win in the Europa League the most prominent.
‘Southport killer jailed for 52-years’
‘Unlikely he’ll ever be released,’ says the Mail.
The Daily Mail leads on the 52-year sentence for Axel Rudakubana, 18 – for the murders of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. Eight other children and two adults were injured. The paper says the sentence is believed to be the longest given to a killer of his age and quotes the judge as saying it’s unlikely he will ever be released.
‘Pure evil,’ the Daily Express quotes one of the parents of the victims.
The Daily Express quotes the parents of the victims calling Rudakubana “pure evil” and saying they have been left with “shattered souls.”
‘I hope the attacks haunt you every single day, – the Mirror quotes one of the parents of the victims.
The Daily Mirror quotes Elsie’s mother who told Rudakubana that she hopes the attacks “haunt you every single day.”
‘He will not win,’ quotes the Sun newspaper.
The Sun quotes the parents of one of the children who was injured in the attacks but survived named Child A, saying: “When we think of Southport we’ll think of the girls. Their bravery. Their strength. He will not win.”
‘He would have killed all 26 children,’ says the i.
The i says Rudakubana would have killed all 26 children in the class and it was only because of the bravery of the other children and adults present that he was stopped. The paper quotes one 14-year-old survivor saying: “I knew I was running for my life. I needed to try to get everyone to safety… a room full of defenceless children”.
‘Some relatives of the victims had to leave as details of wounds read out,’ reports the Telegraph.
The Daily Telegraph describes the scene outside the court at his sentencing. It says a few of the relatives of the victims had to leave the room as prosecuting barrister Deanna Heer recited the list of wounds inflicted on the girls. She notes it was the first time Rudakubana had been in the same room as the families of his victims, though he adds that he missed many of their victim impact statements because he was removed from the court after repeatedly protesting that he felt ill.
‘Parents called police four times in six months asking for help,’ notes The Guardian.
The Guardian says at the sentencing it had emerged that two years before the attack his parents called the police four times in six months asking for help. The paper says that on one occasion he was caught on the bus with a blade but instead of detaining him, officers took him home and told his mother to keep knives out of his reach.
‘Case has prompted calls for legal reforms due to lenient sentence due to his age,’ says The Times.
The Times says the case has prompted calls for legal reforms as Rudakubana’s age at the time of the attack meant he avoided a whole life sentence. The paper says Labour MP Patrick Hurley has asked the attorney general to review the ‘lenient’ sentence. The paper says Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is quoted as saying there is a “strong case” for amending the law to allow whole life orders for under-18s. The PM appears to agree saying “We own it to these innocent young girls and all those affected to deliver the change that they deserve”.
‘Why did police and Prevent scheme fail to act despite obvious signs he was dangerous,’ asks the Mail’s editorial.
In the editorials, the Mail asks why police and the Prevent programme failed to act before the murders despite signs Rudakubana was obsessed with violence. The paper says the signs of danger were ignored due to “box-ticking officials” weren’t sure whether he had a political or ideological motivation.
‘A monster radicalised by terrorist material,’ claims the Sun’s editorial.
The Sun’s editorial says Rudakubana is “simply a monster, radicalised by terrorist material online, obsessed with violence, genocide and war, hell-bent on mass murder for its own sake, and never safe for release”.