By Sam Tobin and Michael Holden
Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been jailed for at least 52 years. Photo: AFP / Merseyside Police
A British teenager who murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event was jailed for at least 52 years on Thursday, for an atrocity prosecutors said was so violent it appeared he had tried to decapitate one of the victims.
On Monday, Axel Rudakubana, 18, admitted carrying out the killings last July in the northern English town of Southport.
Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to 10 charges of attempted murder, as well as to producing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an al Qaeda training manual.
Two of his victims suffered "horrific injuries which ... are difficult to explain as anything other than sadistic in nature", prosecutor Deanna Heer told Liverpool Crown Court.
Judge Julian Goose, who described Rudakubana's actions as "evil", sentenced Rudakubana in his absence after he refused to return to court, having twice been removed for interrupting the hearing.
- Reuters
