'Evil' Southport Teen killer of 3 little Girls jailed for minimum 52 years

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been sentenced to a minimum of 52 years for the "sadistic" murders of three young girls in an attack described as "shocking" and "pure evil".

Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, died while eight other children and two adults – dance class leader Leanne Lucas and businessman Jonathan Hayes – were seriously wounded.

The 18-year-old refused to come into the courtroom as he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court, having been removed from the dock earlier due to disruptive behaviour – which included demands to see a paramedic and shouts of "I feel ill".

Sentencing him, judge Mr Justice Goose said: "Many who have heard the evidence might describe what he did as evil, who could dispute it?"