Why Axel Rudakubana did not receive a whole-life order

Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana, 18, was described as 'pure evil' ahead of his sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court.

Axel Rudakubana. (PA)
Despite the severity of his crimes, Axel Rudakubana was not issued a whole life order. (PA)

Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana has been jailed for life with a minimum of 52 years for the murder of three young girls, but despite the judge saying it was "likely" he would never be released he was not given a whole-life order.

In an emotional statement ahead of today's sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court, Jenny Stancombe, who lost her seven-year-old daughter Elsie Dot Stancombe in the attack, told Rudakubana: “What you did was not only cruel and pure evil; it was the act of a coward.”

Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar, whose nine-year-old daughter Alice da Silva Aguiar was also murdered by Rudakubana, said: “Our life went with her. He took us too. Six months of continuous pain and a lifetime sentence. That’s what we got then and the life we live now."

Rudakubana's heinous crimes have ignited a national debate over whether the threshold for rare whole-life orders should be expanded to cover cases such as his.

ADVERTISEMENT

Patrick Hurley, the Labour MP for Southport, said: “There appears to be no reason, no rationale, that I can accept that he would not be treated as an adult for the purposes of sentencing here, and if that’s not going to be the case, then I would like to see the law changed to make it the case.”

After the sentencing Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said there was a "strong case" for amending the law to award whole life sentences to under 18s. She said he deserved to never be released because of the "countless lives he destroyed on that dreadful day, and the legacy of mistrust he has sown across the country."

While Judge Mr Justice Goose was unable to hand such a sentence, he said he would be sure to pass a “very substantial” minimum term, adding: “I consider at this time it’s likely he will never be released and will be in custody for all his life.”

Here, Yahoo News explains why Rudakubana was not handed a whole life order.

Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, have been named as the victims of the Southport stabbing. (PA)
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were murdered by Axel Rudakubana. (PA)

A whole-life order, which means a prisoner will never be released except in exceptional compassionate circumstances, is usually only imposed by judges on criminals who were aged 21 and over at the time of the offence.

ADVERTISEMENT

The punishment is only considered for those aged 18-to-20 in exceptional circumstances, but Rudakubana was 17 years old when he carried out his attack at The Hart Space on 29 July last year.

He was nine days short of his 18th birthday before carrying out the attack, putting him very close to the current threshold.

“Had he been 18, I make it clear I would have been compelled to impose on him life imprisonment without a minimum term," Mr Justice Goose said.

“However, the law does not permit such a sentence for those offenders who are under 18 when they offend.”

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 23: A van suspected of carrying Southport Killer Axel Rudakubana ahead of sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on January 23, 2025 in Liverpool, England. Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe Kin, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Seven and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, which took place in Southport last July 29. He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of 10 others. (Photo by Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images)
A van believed to be carrying Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court. (Getty Images)

The Sentencing Act 2020 states that a court may consider a whole-life order for 18-20s "only if it considers that the seriousness of the offence, or combination of offences, is exceptionally high even by the standard of offences which would normally result in a whole-life order [for older offenders]".

ADVERTISEMENT

Whole-life orders have become more common over the past few decades, according to the Sentencing Academy, but are still rarely issued. They are used only for the most severe crimes – almost always for murders.

Whole-life orders have recently been handed down to convicted killers including Lucy Letby, Wayne Couzens, Thomas Alexander Mair, who murdered the MP Jo Cox, and Ali Harbi Ali, who killed MP David Amess.

Rudakubana will be held in custody for his minimum term and will be subject to a review by the Parole Board before he can ever be considered for release.

Even if he were released, he would still remain under supervision on licence for the rest of his life – as do all murderers.