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Rage mounts over Axel Rudakubana jail sentence - 'not severe enough'
Axel Rudakubana was handed one of the highest minimum custody terms on record after carrying out the sadistic attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class in July aged 17.
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The Southport killer's 52-year sentence will be reviewed amid criticism it was not long enough after mounting calls for law changes to see monsters like him die in jail.
Axel Rudakubana was handed one of the highest minimum custody terms on record after carrying out the sadistic attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class in July aged 17.
Now 18, he admitted the murders when he appeared in court earlier this week as well as the attempted murders of eight other children who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
But Southport's Labour MP Patrick Hurley said the sentence was "not severe enough" and he had asked the Attorney General to review the sentence as "unduly lenient", adding: "We need a sentence that represents the severity of this crime that has terrorised the victims and their families."
READ MORE: Southport attack timeline in full as Axel Rudakubana is sentenced
Axel Rudakubana was driven to court (Image: Getty)Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to having a knife, which he had bought on Amazon, on the date of the killings, production of the deadly poison ricin, and for possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
Because Rudakubana carried out the crimes just nine days short of his 18th birthday, it means by law he cannot be sentenced to a whole life order which means he would never be released from jail.
A statement from the Attorney Generalâs office said: âAxel Rudakubana was sentenced today to custody for life with a minimum term of 52 years less time on remand after he was convicted of 16 offences including the murder of three young girls, the attempted murder of 10 other people including 8 children, as well as the production of ricin and possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual.
âHis sentence has been referred to the Law Officers under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Only one request is needed for a sentence to be considered.
âThe Law Officers have 28 days from sentencing to consider the case and decide whether to refer it to the Court of Appeal.
âThere is a high threshold for a successful ULS reference. The sentence must be not just lenient but unduly so, for example if the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.
âIf the Law Officers refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal, the Court may decide that the sentence should stay the same, is unreasonably low (called âunduly lenientâ) and may increase it, or refuse to review the case.â
Whole-life orders can normally only be imposed on criminals aged 21 and over, but can be considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances.
However, although Rudakubana is now 18, he does not fall into this category as he was 17 when he committed his offences.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said of the sentence: âAxel Rudakubana should never be released from prison.
âHis age means he has not been given a whole life sentence, despite the countless lives he destroyed on that dreadful day, and the legacy of mistrust he has sown across the country.
âThere is a strong case here for amending the law to give clear judicial discretion to award whole life sentences to under 18s, which
âConservatives will start to explore.
âMy heart goes out to the victims and their families. None of us can imagine your pain and we owe you justice.
âWhile the Government inquiry is a step in the right direction, it falls short of what is needed. It must address two critical issues: 1) why wasn't Rudakubana apprehended sooner? and 2) the transparency of information during and after the unrest that followed this barbaric incident.
âOne of my greatest frustrations is the deflection that often follows domestic terrorism incidents.
âIt is absurd that we are debating online knife sales more than we are integration and how we safeguard our society from extreme ideologies and violence.
Rudakubana refused to sit in court to receive his sentence (Image: PA)âKeir Starmer's statement on Monday was disappointing. He sidestepped the core issues, focusing instead on legal definitions of terrorism. By avoiding these hard truths he inadvertently politicises our response to this tragedy.
âThe Conservatives will not avoid hard truths. We are under new leadership."
Jenny Stancombe, mother of seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, said: âHis actions have left us with a lifetime of grief and it is only right that he faces the same.
âWe hope he uses his time in prison to reflect on the gravity of what he has done, though if we go from his actions and behaviour during this process we have little faith that he will ever feel the remorse he should.
âThere is nothing that can undo the damage he has caused but knowing that he will never be free to cause any harm to vulnerable children again would give us a small measure of justice.
âPerhaps he will have the opportunity to contemplate the fear and terror he inflicted upon those girls, and we sincerely want the consequences to reflect the irreparable damage he has inflicted.â
Former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland said: âA tweak could be to allow judges to treat people who have turned 18 by the time of sentencing to be dealt with as an adult.â
Mr Hurley added: "For all intents and purposes, Rudakubana was an adult on that day. He was nine days short of his date of majority, his 18th birthday.
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âThere's even speculation as to whether or not he planned the date of the attack in order to avoid a full life term and I think if we cannot find a way to ensure that he doesn't spend the rest of his life behind bars, then we do need to look at what we can do to change the law, because what we've seen in court today, it's just been utterly disgusting and distressing for everybody that's been following the case and we can't allow that to happen again.
âAnd for anybody else that might want to or might look to undertake something similar in the future, these people need to be never set free. Society is much better with them being locked up for the rest of their life.â
Describing the minimum term as "substantial" Mr Justice Goose, sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, said he will serve "almost the whole of his life in custody", adding: "I consider at this time that it is likely that he will never be released and that he will be in custody for all his life."
His words were echoed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who said afterwards that the "vile offender will likely never be released".
The Children's Commissioner for England said "alarm bells had been ringing for many years" over Axel Rudakubana and "there can be no doubt that there was a failure of the state to protect these innocent children" from the killer.
In a statement, Dame Rachel de Souza said: "My heart goes out to the families of the three girls murdered in Southport and to the other children and adults who were injured in the horrific attack last July.
"The incredibly distressing statements that have been read out in court during the sentencing highlight the ongoing impact these horrific, violent crimes have had on the families involved and the entire community.
"The sentence handed to Axel Rudakubana with a minimum of 52 years means he is unlikely to ever be free but that will never fully compensate the victims and their families for the pain and loss they have experienced.
"He was well-known to police, anti-extremism authorities and a number of other public agencies for his violent behaviour. Concerns by his parents were also ignored and overlooked.
"Alarm bells had been ringing for many years. There can be no doubt that there was a failure of the state to protect these innocent children from Axel Rudakubana.
"Tragically it's too late for these victims, these families and survivors, and so we need action now to stop further attacks by dangerous people already known to multiple agencies. We must intervene as early as possible to stop preventable crimes that destroy lives and communities."
