Evil Southport killer showed no mercy and neither should we – his crimes deserve him being removed from Earth
AXEL Rudakubana, the Southport killer, avoided being told that he will die in jail because he was nine days short of his 18th birthday when he brought mass murder to a Taylor Swift dance class.
The 52-year sentence, the most the judge could impose, will now be reviewed.
But how could even a whole life sentence possibly feel like it was enough?
This country reels at a crime so unspeakably evil that it feels like no other in our history.
On a sunny morning in Southport, a classroom full of little girls making bracelets and singing songs rang with “laughter and excitement”.
And in that most innocent of places, children were slaughtered.
They were stabbed, terrorised and murdered.
The smiles on the faces of the three girls who were murdered will haunt us forever.
Bebe King, six years old — the little gap-toothed girl pointing proudly at her Wicked T-shirt.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, with her cheeky grin, posing proudly in her red and yellow school uniform.
And Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, in her white floral dress and matching flowers in her hair.
And the tiny survivors whose names we don’t know.
They will carry wounds, in body and mind, all their lives.
They could have been your child.
They could have been mine.
Families have been shattered.
Lives have been ravaged.
We will never know the full extent of the horror unleashed that day, and how it will echo through entire lifetimes.
But we know one thing. 52 years?
An entire life behind bars? It does not feel like justice.
I am no great proponent of capital punishment.
But I find it impossible to find a reason why Rudakubana should not be removed from the face of the Earth.
There are some crimes so horrible — so unforgivable, so reeking of unapologetic evil — that the perpetrator should forfeit their life.
How could this horror have happened in our country?
From the time he was expelled from school for carrying a knife, Rudakubana’s obsession with violence was well known.
Children’s services at Lancashire County Council and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services both had him on their radar.
He was referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme three times.
There were multiple interactions with the police.
His parents could not control him.
Rejoices in his crimes
There were red flags galore and they were all ignored.
Will it be different with the next monster?
Who knows? But I know this much.
Rudakubana was disruptive in the dock and was removed to see if he needed medical care. Medical care!
But of course, for the rest of his life, this evil bastard will be treated with kindness, compassion and dignity.
Rudakubana even avoided being in the dock when he was sentenced.
This is the man who stabbed one little girl 32 times. And she survived.
Enough.
Evil men see our compassion as weakness, our faith in civilisation as a soft touch, our respect for humanity as stupidity.
We hear of children being slaughtered and then we call for medical care for the man who killed them.
We will keep him at taxpayers’ expense — fed, clothed, entertained, protected.
Rudakubana rejoices in his crimes.
He showed no mercy to his innocent victims.
Our country should show no mercy to him.
Louise is marching in gran’s footsteps
LADY Louise Windsor, daughter of Prince Edward, is pictured in full combat gear as she receives basic Army officer training at her university in Edinburgh.
Louise looks the spitting image of her beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
When she was 18 years old and still a princess, Elizabeth served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War.
There is even talk that Louise, 16th in line to the throne, might be keen on a career in the Armed Forces.
And seeing her in her camo kit reminds us why we still have a Royal Family in this country.
Because they still understand the meaning of national service.
Moguls have a cheek
IT is ironic to see those powerhouse producers Stock Aitken Waterman clutching their pearls about the sexualisation of pop music.
“Pop music, and particularly pop videos, have become a lot more sexualised than back in the Eighties,” sighs Matt Aitken, 68.
“And that is incredibly strange, given that women’s rights are so protected now,” sniffs Pete Waterman, 78.
“Sabrina Carpenter has got great talent, and yet these girls come out in as little as possible because they know they’re driving young boys to their websites.
“So you go – hang on, we could never have done that 30 years ago.”
Hang on, lads – you did!
Stock Aitken Waterman wrote for Sinitta, who had more erotic charge in So Macho and Toy Boy than Sabrina Carpenter did in her entire Netflix Christmas special.
They turned Sam Fox from a Page Three legend into a pop star.
And have they forgotten Kylie Minogue’s gold shorts?
Some of us never will.
Pop music has always been sold with a side order of sex.
Next year it will be 50 years since I was standing in a bar in Bristol and became the envy of all my mates when a small American blonde said hello to me.
Her name was Debbie Harry.
Blondie sold sex appeal.
What has changed since the old days is that female pop stars no longer dress for the guys – whatever Stock Aitken Waterman believe.
How many males were at those Taylor Swift concerts last summer? Apart from Keir Starmer?
Taylor and Sabrina dress for their female fanbase – and themselves.
Increasingly, the lads just don’t come into it.
Gloves off for Wills?
BOXING gloves should usually not be worn for a photoshoot.
We cringe at the memory of Boris Johnson in his big blue gloves emblazoned with the message Get Brexit Done.
And the flesh crawls at the haunting image of Keir Starmer in red boxing gloves instructing us to Vote Labour.
But Prince William pulled on the gloves at a session organised by the BoxWise Foundation at Centrepoint, who offer sporting opportunities to disadvantaged kids.
And Wills looks the business. Nice high guard. Relaxed shoulders.
Turning his arm into that right cross, putting all his weight behind it.
Keeping his mouth firmly closed, making it harder for an opponent to break your jaw.
But then William has actually done a bit of boxing.
“I might get back into boxing,” he told trainer Charlie Beatt.
Would that be for fitness or family reunions?
THE Academy Award nominations have been announced, but they can give Timothee Chalamet the Best Actor Oscar now.
In A Complete Unknown, Chalamet does not play Bob Dylan so much as inhabit him.
We have seen some great performances of music legends. Austin Butler as Elvis Presley. Taron Egerton as Elton John. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury.
Chalamet as Dylan tops the lot. The voice, the singing and playing, the body language.
The transformation from down-at-heel hobo rocking up in Greenwich Village to Sixties rock star is brilliant.
A Complete Unknown is also an incredibly moving film.
There are two love stories – Dylan’s rocky relationship with first girlfriend Suze Rotolo (called Sylvie Russo in the movie), and his even rockier relationship with queen of folk, Joan Baez.
But the relationship that matters most is the one Dylan has with his hero, Woody Guthrie, struck dumb and lying on his death bed, ravaged with Huntington’s disease.
The scenes between Dylan and Woody will rip your heart out.
I have not cried that much at the pictures since Bambi lost his mother.
I WAS once on a plane from New York with the Village People.
This must have been a good few years after YMCA was a hit because we were all sitting in the cheap seats, lost in a cloud of cigarette smoke.
When we landed at Heathrow, the pilot wished the group good luck on their European tour and they all stood up to take a bow – the cop, the cowboy, the builder, the biker and the Native American.
The whole of economy class gave them a round of applause.
After playing two shows at this week’s Presidential Inauguration, that could never happen now.
These days, and forever more, the Village People will be sitting at the front of the plane.
DONALD TRUMP loves fast food and only gets exercise when he plays golf – riding a buggy between holes!
So how does this energetic 78- year-old stay fit?
He doesn’t!
It is following Joe Biden that makes Trump look like Joe Wicks.