The only prison sentence that compares to Axel Rudakubana's 52 years

There is one other criminal who has been sentenced to a life sentence close to Axel Rudakubana's
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There is only one man's life sentence that exceeds that of Axel Rudakubana's without having a whole life order being imposed. This week saw Rudakubana plead guilty to the horrific and barbaric murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, on the opening day of his trial following a mass stabbing in Southport last year.

Rudakubana entered The Hart Space on July 29, 2024, at around 11.45am where he began a 12 minute rampage, systematically targeting the 26 children who were enjoying a Taylor Swift-themed workshop with teachers Leanne Lucas and Heidi Liddle on the hot summer day. He injured a further eight children in his attack and two adults - Ms Lucas and John Hayes - who tried to protect the children from the knifeman.

The 18-year-old also pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article, namely a curved kitchen knife, production of a biological toxin, namely ricin, and possession of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, namely a PDF file entitled "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual".

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Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, told the court yesterday: "The defendant carried out a premeditated, planned knife attack upon multiple victims, principally young girls, intending to kill them. Three children were killed, two of whom suffered particularly horrific injuries which are difficult to explain as anything other than sadistic in nature.

"The defendant attempted to kill 10 others, inflicting a number of stab wounds upon them, including to their backs as they tried to escape. When his home was searched following his arrest, a number of weapons were recovered including the biological toxin ricin, which the defendant had produced in his bedroom.

"On his computer devices, a large number of images and documents were found which demonstrated that he had a long standing obsession with violence, killing and genocide. Amongst those documents was a version of the Al-Qaeda training manual, which provides instruction on how to commit acts of terror - including with a knife and with poisons, including ricin.

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Ms Heer also detailed how Rudakubana, having been transported into custody at a police station, would go on to sickeningly remark: "It's a good thing those children are dead. I'm so glad, so happy."

Having initially appeared in the dock in a grey prison issue tracksuit and a light blue medical face mask covering his mouth, Rudakubana began to shout at this stage "I'm not fine, I feel ill". He added: "Judge, I need to speak to a paramedic because I feel ill."

He was eventually removed from the court so the judge could proceed with the morning session. One man in the public gallery was heard to say "coward" as Rudakubana left.

Rudakubana was initially allowed back into court during the afternoon session after Stanley Reiz KC, defending, told the court that he was "willing to come back into court" and "understood that it was important not to disrupt proceedings". However the killer then began shouting again, saying: "I need to be seen again by the paramedic. Judge, judge, judge. I need to be seen by the paramedic. I feel ill."

Justice Goose ordered that the defendant, who had been "deemed fit to continue" by medics, be removed from court for a second time as a result. Mr Reiz said in mitigation: "For offences of such wickedness, the mitigation I can meaningfully advance is limited."

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The judge sentenced Axel Rudakubana to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 52 years. The 18-year-old's crimes are so severe they may well have been deemed worthy of a whole life order. These were imposed on the likes of Lucy Letby, Wayne Couzens and Mark Fellows in recent years and mean that an offender can never be considered for release.

However, under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, whole life orders can only be given to a defendant who was aged 18 or above at the time of committing their crimes. Rudakubana was aged 17 on the date of his offences in July last year, being a mere matter of days shy of his 18th birthday, and is therefore not eligible for a whole life order.

The UN Convention on the Rights of a Child says governments which have signed it should ensure that “neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below 18 years of age”.

The only other person who has a life sentence which compares without being handed a whole life order is that of Hashem Abedi who is expected to die in jail after he was handed 24 life sentences in August 2020 for organising the Manchester Arena bomb plot which killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others. He was found guilty of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.

The Old Bailey heard that the Islamic State-inspired jihadi had helped his older sibling, Salman, who blew himself up in the attack after an Ariana Grande concert on the night of May 22 2017. The defendant, who had travelled to Libya before the bombing, was extradited back to Britain to face trial.

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Abedi, who sacked his legal team, refused to attend court for his sentencing hearing. He remained legally unrepresented, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said. The court heard Abedi would have been eligible for a whole-life sentence had he been over the age of 21 at the time of the Manchester Arena bombing.

Following the sentencing of Abedi, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which was passed through Parliament in 2022, allowed the Government to expand its used of whole life orders to premeditated murder of a child. It also changed the legislation so that criminals who committed their crime between the ages of 18 and 20 years old could be handed the maximum tariff in exceptional circumstances.