Axel Rudakubana being sentenced for ‘sadistic’ and ‘pre-meditated’ murders
The 18-year-old admitted all 16 offences he faced on the first day of his trial on Monday.
Injuries suffered by the Southport murder victims are “difficult to explain as anything other than sadistic in nature”, prosecutors have said.
A sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday heard that Axel Rudakubana, 18, carried out a “pre-meditated, planned knife attack upon multiple victims, principally young girls, intending to kill them”.
The court was also told that Rudakubana said “I’m glad they’re dead” as he was held in a custody suite after killing the three girls at a Southport dance class.
Deanna Heer KC told the court: “Three children were killed, two of whom suffered particularly horrific injuries which are difficult to explain as anything other than sadistic in nature; and the defendant attempted to kill 10 others, inflicting a number of stab wounds upon them, including to their backs as they tried to escape.”
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29.
The defendant, who was 17 at the time of the killings, admitted their murders 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.
