Sick Southport killer Axel Rudakubana uttered just one chilling word while being asked to answer for his murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe.
Rudakubana, 18, from Banks in Lancashire, killed the three young girls, who were aged nine, six and seven, in a senseless attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town on July 29 last year. He pleaded guilty to their murders during an appearance at Liverpool Crown Court today, a further 10 charges of attempted murder, and one charge of possession of a knife, all relating to the incident on Hart Street.
He was later charged on October 29 with producing deadly poison ricin, possessing a pdf file entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual”, which was deemed “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”. The court and public have heard extensively about the killer’s actions, but not from the accused himself, who has so far responded with only one word when appearing at court.
Rudakubana has remained closed off from the court during his multiple appearances, and has been typically dressed in a nondescript grey tracksuit with his face covered by a surgical mask. He did not stand when asked to by the court clerk and judge after entering court and did not reply when he was asked to confirm his name.
The killer has only spoken when he is legally required to, namely while entering pleas for his more than a dozen crimes. He said nothing more than “guilty” while sitting in the dock, repeating the word 16 times as he entered a plea for each charge. Rudakubana remained otherwise quiet, refusing to speak to his defence lawyer, Stan Reiz KC, to whom he only nodded in response.
Mr Reiz confirmed there was no dispute that the defendant was Rudakubana and he could hear what was being said, and that he was “choosing not to speak”. Once he entered his 16 pleas, he was told the court would sentence him on Thursday, with the judge saying: “You have now pleaded guilty to this indictment and to each of the charges upon it.
“The next stage is sentence. That will take place on Thursday at 11am.” He told Rudakubana to keep in touch with barristers. He added: “You will understand it is inevitable the sentence to be imposed upon you will mean a life sentence equivalent will be imposed upon you.
“I will have to complete the sentencing process on that on that occasion.”
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