Southport Killer's Sentence Stands Amid Public Outcry

Axel Rudakubana, an 18-year-old convicted of murdering three young girls and attempting to murder others during a dance class in Southport, has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 52 years. Despite public outcry and requests from MPs and victims' families for a harsher sentence, the Attorney General, Lord Hermer KC, decided not to refer the case to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. The sentence, one of the longest for someone of his age, cannot be increased as Rudakubana was 17 at the time of the crime, precluding a whole-life order. The decision was made after careful legal consultation, as there was no realistic legal basis for an increased sentence. The Attorney General expressed that putting the families through further court processes without grounds for a change would be unnecessary. The government is now focusing on next steps to prevent such crimes in the future.