Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Southport stabbings suspect...

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, shouting from the dock as he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, for his sentencing hearing after he pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, in Liverpool, England, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. Credit: AP/Elizabeth Cook

LONDON — The British government said Friday it has no plans to change a law barring young people from being imprisoned for life, despite widespread demands for the teenage killer of three young girls to die behind bars.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to serve at least 52 years for a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

The sentence means he cannot apply for parole until he is almost 70, and judge Julian Goose said “it is likely he will never be released.”

The judge said Thursday that by law he could not impose a sentence of life without parole because Rudakubana was 17 when he attacked the children in the seaside town of Southport in July, killing Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6. He wounded eight other girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, and two adults.

Patrick Hurley, the Labour Party lawmaker who represents Southport in Parliament, said the sentence was “unduly lenient” and that he had asked the attorney general to review it.

“We need a sentence that represents the severity of this crime that has terrorized the victims and their families,” he said.

Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said “there is a strong case” for changing the law so under-18s can be jailed for life.

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at...

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court for his sentencing after he admitted the murders of three girls at a dance class in Southport, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025 in Liverpool, England Credit: AP/Peter Byrne

The government said international agreements such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child prevent unlimited sentences or the death penalty being imposed on youths under 18.

Tom Wells, a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said changing the law is “not something we are looking at.”

But, he added, “as the judge made clear yesterday, he is likely to never be released. … We don’t ever want to see this man coming out of prison.”

Two lawmakers for the hard-right party Reform U.K. called for the restoration of the death penalty, which was abolished in Britain in 1969.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference...

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at the Downing Street Briefing Room in London, Jan. 21, 2025, following the guilty plea of the Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana. Credit: AP/Henry Nicholls

Wells said that “the government has no plans to bring back capital punishment.”

The Southport attack shocked the country and triggered anti-immigrant violence across the country after far-right activists seized on incorrect reports that the attacker was an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in the U.K. Rudakubana was born in Wales to parents from Rwanda.

The government has announced a public inquiry into how the system failed to stop the killer, who had been referred to the authorities multiple times over his obsession with violence. He was expelled from school after taking a knife to class and convicted of assault for attacking another student with a hockey stick.

In powerful statements read out during the sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, families of the dead and injured children described how the attack had shattered their lives — and expressed a desire for Rudakubana to die in prison.

“His actions have left us with a lifetime of grief and it is only right that he faces the same,” said Elsie’s mother Jenny Stancombe.

“You know what you have done,” she said, addressing Rudakubana, “and we hope the weight of that knowledge haunts you every single day.”

Ronnie Tanner, a horse jockey in the '60s and '70s, and Kendrick Carmouche, a current jockey, spoke about the racism Black jockeys have faced. NewsdayTV's Jamie Stuart reports. Credit: Ed Murray, Jonathan Singh

'I had to keep my mouth shut'  Ronnie Tanner, a horse jockey in the '60s and '70s, and Kendrick Carmouche, a current jockey, spoke about the racism Black jockeys have faced. NewsdayTV's Jamie Stuart reports.

Ronnie Tanner, a horse jockey in the '60s and '70s, and Kendrick Carmouche, a current jockey, spoke about the racism Black jockeys have faced. NewsdayTV's Jamie Stuart reports. Credit: Ed Murray, Jonathan Singh

'I had to keep my mouth shut'  Ronnie Tanner, a horse jockey in the '60s and '70s, and Kendrick Carmouche, a current jockey, spoke about the racism Black jockeys have faced. NewsdayTV's Jamie Stuart reports.

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