At his trial Monday, he refused to stand in court and responded “guilty” to every charge. The fact that he pleads guilty shortens the procedure which was initially supposed to last four weeks.
In December, he refused to speak before the judge, who considered that his silence amounted to a plea of not guilty.
“No remorse”
In the wake of the attack, violent anti-immigration protests took place in dozens of towns in England and Northern Ireland, fueled by far-right agitators amid online rumors about the suspect.
The violence lasted several days, during which rioters attacked hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques. Clashes took place with the police, mobilized en masse, and with counter-protesters.
Then aged 17, Axel Rudakubana was wrongly presented as an asylum seeker even though he was born in Wales to a family originally from Rwanda and lived in Banks, a town near Southport.
According to the British agency Press Association (PA), the family was described as uneventful by its neighbors but the accused’s teachers had, on several occasions, expressed concern about his behavior.
The teenager, who had been diagnosed with autism, was excluded from his school after an act of violence against another student. Teachers at a special school he attended were also alarmed by the violence he showed towards others.
“This is an unspeakable attack, which has left an indelible mark on our community and the entire nation because of its savagery and its senseless character,” declared prosecutor Ursula Doyle at the end of the the audience.
Axel Rudakubana had a “morbid interest in death”, she added, stressing that he had “shown no sign of remorse”.
-Clashes between police and far-right demonstrators in several cities in the United Kingdom (PHOTOS)
More than 400 convictions
Faced with the riots, which occurred a few weeks after coming to power in July, Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised the greatest firmness for the perpetrators of violence and those who fueled it online.
As of mid-December, more than 410 people had been sentenced across the country in connection with these riots, including more than 360 in prison, according to a count carried out by PA.
Two men notably received nine years in prison, the heaviest sentence handed down against the perpetrators of this violence.
An organization responsible for monitoring police action estimated that they had underestimated the climate of violence and the weight of disinformation.
The Southport attack sparked a wave of horrified reactions across the country. King Charles III visited the site in August to meet the surviving children.
The day after the attack, singer Taylor Swift, then in the middle of her global tour, said she was “completely shocked”. Prince William and his wife Kate also visited Southport in October, paying tribute to the relief efforts.
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