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A next-door neighbour of Axel Rudakubana thought he was just a ‘normal, moody teenager’ before he became known for the worst possible reason.
On 29 July 2024, the then 17-year-old went on a 12-minute pre-mediated rampage as he targeted innocent children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
Rudakubana stabbed three young girls to death, Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, as many others were critically injured.
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And on Thursday (23 January) he was sentenced to 52 years for his horrific crimes including charges for the murders and the attempted murder of 10 others (eight children and two adults).
The reason why he wasn’t eligible for a whole life order, which is given to the very worst of murderers, is because he was 17 when he committed the crimes.
Caroline had lived next door to the Rudakubana family but has since moved away from the area following threats being shouted over the cordon, ‘constant’ police questioning’ and ‘finding out there were chemicals next door’.
She told the Liverpool ECHO how the family ‘kept themselves to themselves’, before adding: “I thought the teenage son was a bit weird, like he just stared at you and didn't really say anything at all.
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“I just put that down to him being a teenager but he did used to stare. He'd stare at me like he was staring right through me. I just thought he was a normal, moody teenager.”
The woman explained there’d been ‘no problems’ living next to the Rudakubanas as they ‘themselves seemed normal’.
Caroline was working from home on the day the attack took place and hadn’t seen the news when she noticed police arriving outside her home.
When she went downstairs, she was greeted by an armed police officer pointing a rifle at her in the doorway of her open backdoor, telling her to get in the house and close the door.
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Having moved her family away following the ‘trauma’ and memories she wants to forget, she added: “It's not Old School Close anymore, it's the forgotten close. No crime was committed there but our lives were turned upside down."
When Rudakubana was arrested in July, he told police 'I'm glad those kids are dead', and an investigation of his home found a number of weapons, including a knife identical to the one he used to commit murder, along with arrows and a box containing an unknown substance.
Once tested, it was found to contain ricin – a poison which does not have an antidote.
The court heard this week how the now 18-year-old had enough items in his room to make up to 12,500 lethal doses of the poison had he continued manufacturing it, though prosecutors told the court there was no evidence Rudakubana used the poison.
Sentencing him on Thursday, Mr Justice Goose said he was sure the teen ‘would have killed all 26 children’ if he’d been able to and called what he did ‘the most extreme, shocking and exceptionally serious crime’.
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“It’s likely he will never be released and will spend the rest of his life in custody,” he added.
Jess Battison