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Eighteen-year-old Axel Rudakubana was sentenced in a Liverpool court today to life in prison for the fatal stabbings of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England, last summer.
Rudakubana will serve a minimum of 52 years of the life sentence.
Today’s sentencing by Judge Julian Goose was widely reported in the U.K., including by the BBC, The New York Times and other prominent outlets that covered the trial. Rudakubana pleaded guilty earlier this week. According to the Times, he refused to attend the sentencing after a number of outbursts earlier in the day prompted Judge Goose to order him removed from court.
In addition to the three murders, Rudakubana wounded 10 others present at the dance studio last July 29.
“The harm that Rudakubana has caused to each family, to each child, to the community has been profound and permanent,” said the judge today. “It was such extreme violence of the utmost and exceptionally high seriousness that it is difficult to comprehend why it was done.”
According to the judge, a life sentence without the possibility of parole was not allowed in this case because Rudakubana was 17 at the time of the crime. The judge, according to news reports, said it is unlikely Rudakubana will ever be released from prison.
The horrific murders made international headlines last summer not only for the crime itself but because of Swift’s quick public statements of support for the victims and their families. She personally met with the families of the slain girls, and issued a statement saying, “The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock…The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
