The teenager who murdered Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar uttered the words as he arrived under an armed guard
The teenager who murdered Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar uttered the words as he arrived under an armed guard
It was three days since Axel Rudabukana had committed an unforgivable, unspeakable crime. He was sitting in the back of a police van bound for the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, a vehicle under an escort of armed police officers.
His actions at the Hart Centre in Southport on July 29 2024 had sparked ugly scenes back in the seaside town, where a community in mourning was forced to pick up the pieces of widespread rioting in the aftermath of the murders of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. Further violence would follow in Liverpool city centre, on County Road and across the country over the coming days.
As the convoy turned off the Strand into the tunnel underneath Derby Square which greets all prisoners appearing at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court and Liverpool Crown Court, a scrum of cameras awaited his arrival amongst a smattering of angry and otherwise curious members of the public. It was at this moment that, according to ECHO sources, Rudakubana simply remarked: “Is this all for me?”
Once in court, the then 17-year-old said far less. Indeed, he did not utter a single word in any courtroom until today.
During this first appearance in the magistrates court, Rudakubana covered his face with the jumper of his grey prison issue tracksuit. Only his unkempt dark hair was visible as he sat bent double in the dock in silence.
At this stage, the reason lying behind his refusal to speak remained open for speculation. Was this a deeply troubled teenager who had not realised the enormity of his heinous crimes until thrust into the glare of the nation’s media? Had he frozen in the spotlight of a small courtroom with not a single seat to spare?
Rudakubana would keep up this stance of silence during subsequent appearances before the crown court and Westminster Magistrates’ Court over the following months. It was only during his most recent appearance before today that the picture locked deep within his mind became clear.
Swaying wildly from side to side while appearing remotely from HMP Belmarsh exactly a week before Christmas, he showed his face for the first time. It displayed an icy, chilling smirk beneath cold, dead eyes.
Axel Rudakubana’s haunting expression revealed beyond doubt the fact that he was revelling in the circus that he had created. The lives and feelings of his victims were mere play things for him to toy with.
Yet again, he did not speak a word. High Court judge Mr Justice Goose was instead forced to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf, and witnesses and families were forced to brace themselves for the ordeal of a trial and reliving in unsparing detail what must have been by far the worst day of their lives.
Rudakubana is understood to have had at least limited discussions with his legal team, but he was not expected to advance any positive case in his defence. He merely wanted the prosecution to dance to his tune by proving his undeniable guilt by calling all of the extensive evidence available to them.
Thus, on a mild and dry Monday morning in January 2025, he was led into courtroom 51 under the escort of four security guards and, true to type, refused to stand or confirm his name when asked to do so by the court clerk. But there was to be one final twist as his counsel, Stanley Reiz KC, asked for the indictment to be put to his client once more.
After a word in his ear from the defence silk at the glass frontage of the dock, Rudakubana finally spoke. Sixteen times, the word “guilty” was muttered from underneath the light blue surgical face mask which he was sporting.
Guilty to the murders of Bebe, Elsie and Alice. Guilty to the attempted murders of eight other children and two adults who were stabbed as Rudakubana meted out a frenzy of gruesome violence during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at what was the beginning of their summer holidays.
Guilty to possession of the knife used to carry out the horrifying attacks. Guilty to the production of ricin and the “Al Qaeda Training Manual” found when Merseyside Police searched his bedroom.
Nearly six months on, Axel Rudakubana’s sick games were finally over. The questions of how, when, why and could this have been prevented will no doubt be posited for some time to come. There might never be any definitive answers.
Perhaps once justice is done those caught in the wake of the utter devastation of last summer can begin the unimaginable task of attempting to rebuild their lives in earnest. Inevitably, they will never be the same again without the love and laughter of the three girls whose years were tragically cut so short on that awful day.
Rudakubana will make one final court appearance on Thursday this week, when he will learn just how long he will spend behind bars. He will receive a sentence measured in decades. If he ever sets foot outside of a prison again, it will be a day too soon for many.
