For the families of Axel Rudakubana’s victims, the life sentence with a minimum of 52 years handed to him on Thursday for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe, and 13 other crimes, cannot end their suffering but brings a close to a painful chapter. Until he pleaded guilty on Monday, the expectation had been for a weeks-long trial. The continuing struggle of survivors was painfully clear from statements read in court. Several girls have life-changing injuries. Alice’s family described their bereavement as a “scar to the soul”. There are few precedents in Britain for the eruption of such extreme violence into a gathering of young children.
Thankfully there has been no repeat of last summer’s riots, when asylum seekers were targeted after false claims that the killer – who was born in Cardiff – was himself a migrant. By announcing three new probes this week, Sir Keir Starmer showed that he grasps the political risks stirred up by this case, as well as its grievous losses.
