UK: Attorney general refuses to overturn life sentence of triple child killer

The Attorney General has declined to refer the sentence of Axel Rudakubana, convicted of three murders in Southport, England, to the Court of Appeal. 

Rudakubana, 18, is serving a 52-year minimum term for the killings of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, in July 2024, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

The judge had remarked that Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attacks, would have received a whole-life order had he been an adult.

In a statement, Lord Hermer KC confirmed that after "careful consideration," there was no legal basis for a sentence increase. He added that pursuing further appeals would only prolong the suffering of the victims' families.

Rudakubana’s sentence is one of the longest in English legal history, with no prospect of release until he has served 52 years. His case was reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, which does not guarantee a referral to the Court of Appeal. The scheme applies only to specific offences, and appeals are only successful when there is an "error of principle."

To recall, Axel Rudakubana, then 17-year-old, carried out a brutal attack in Southport on 29 July 2024, killing three young girls, aged six to nine, at a children's dance class. Known to authorities for violent behaviour and obsession with extremist figures, Rudakubana had been flagged multiple times by the Prevent programme and local agencies, but his case was not escalated for further monitoring.

Despite early signs of aggression and a history of violent incidents, including school expulsions and criminal convictions, Rudakubana was able to purchase a knife and plan the attack. 

By Aghakazim Guliyev