U.K. teenager pleads guilty to murdering three young girls at Taylor Swift themed dance party

U.K. teenager pleads guilty to murdering three young girls at Taylor Swift themed dance party


A British teenager on Monday unexpectedly pleaded guilty to charges of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in northern England in July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, changed his pleas from not guilty to guilty on what was due to be the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty to the murder of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, who were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event being held for children in the summer vacation in the town of Southport last July.

Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to 10 charges of attempted murder relating to the attack, as well as to producing the deadly poison ricin and the possession of an Al Qaeda training manual.

Judge Julian Goose said he would sentence Rudakubana on Thursday and that a life jail term was inevitable. Goose noted that the victims’ families were not present to see Rudakubana plead guilty as the prosecution opening was not expected until Tuesday.

Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the incident, initially refused to speak when asked to confirm his name, as he had at all previous hearings which meant that not guilty pleas had been entered on his behalf in December.

But, after consulting with his lawyer, he confirmed he wished to change those pleas.

British-born Rudakubana was arrested shortly after the attack in the quiet seaside town north of the city of Liverpool.

Despite the discovery of the Al Qaeda manual, police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related.

In the wake of the murders, large disturbances broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant.

Those disturbances spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer blaming the riots on far-right thuggery. More than 1,500 people were arrested.



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Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for raping and murdering trainee doctor | India

Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for raping and murdering trainee doctor | India


An Indian police volunteer has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital where she worked in Kolkata, a crime that sparked nationwide protests and widespread hospital strikes last year.

The court rejected demands for the death penalty, saying it was not a “rarest-of-rare” crime.

The woman’s body was found in a classroom at the state-run RG Kar medical college and hospital on 9 August. Other doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and better security at public hospitals.

Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday, who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against him. Roy had claimed he was innocent and that he had been framed, and sought clemency.

The federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime belonged to the “rarest-of-rare” category and Roy, therefore, deserved the death penalty.

“I do not consider it as a rarest-of-rare crime,” Das said as he sentenced Roy to life in jail on both the counts of rape and murder on Monday. “Life imprisonment, meaning imprisonment until death.”

The judge said he had come to the conclusion it was not a rarest-of-rare crime after considering all the evidence and the circumstances linked to it. He said Roy could appeal to a higher court.

The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom on Monday as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings. The fast-tracked trial had not been open to the public.

The parents of the junior doctor were among those in court on Monday. Security was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed at the court complex.

The rape and murder of the student sparked state-wide protests and strikes by medical students and doctors. Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPA

The parents had said earlier they were not satisfied with the investigation and suspected more people were involved in the crime. Their lawyer, Amartya Dey, told Reuters on Monday that they had sought the death penalty for Roy and also demanded that those involved in what they called the “larger conspiracy” be brought to justice.

Protesting doctors had said that demonstrations would continue until justice was done.

India’s federal police cited 128 witnesses in its investigation, of whom 51 were examined during the fast-tracked trial that began in November.

Police have also charged the officer heading the local police station and the head of the college at the time of the crime with destruction of the crime scene and tampering with evidence.



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