Teenager told police he ‘wanted to stab someone’ in 2022
Axel Rudakubana latest: Southport killer ‘s52-year jail term to be reviewed as families share pain and anger
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana’s 52-year jail term is set to be reviewed after concerns were raised it was unduly lenient.
The 18-year-old was jailed for life after murdering three young girls and stabbing several others in an act of “extreme violence” at a Taylor Swift themed dance class.
He was sentenced in his absence after failing to return to the dock, and will now spend decades behind bars for what the judge termed “the most extreme, shocking and exceptionally serious crime”.
Rudakubana avoided a whole-life tariff – which would have ensured he could never leave prison – because he was nine days shy of being 18 when he committed the atrocity. The 52-year sentence is a record length for a person of his age.
Southport’s Labour MP Patrick Hurley has now asked the Attorney General to review the sentence as “unduly lenient”.
Attorney General Lord Hermer and Solicitor General Lucy Rigby now have 28 days to decide whether to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.
The families of Rudakubana’s victims shared their pain and anger inside Liverpool Crown Court. Mother of murdered seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Jenny, described the attack as “the act of a coward” and said Rudakubana was “cruel and pure evil”.
Axel Rudakubana latest: Southport killer‘s 52-year jail term to be reviewed as families share pain and anger