A British teen pleaded guilty Monday to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a \u201cmeticulously planned\u201d stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.<\/p>\n
The crime shocked Britain, and misinformation about the attacker sparked anti-immigrant violence across the country. The government announced it would hold an independent public inquiry into the attack, which was carried out by a U.K.-born teenager whose troubling fascination with violence saw him reported to authorities years before the crime.<\/p>\n
Axel Rudakubana, 18, entered the surprise guilty pleas as jury selection had been expected to begin at the start of his trial in Liverpool Crown Court.<\/p>\n
The July 29 stabbings led to a week of widespread rioting across parts of England and Northern Ireland after the suspect was falsely identified as an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. He was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Rudakubana’s conviction, but said it was \u201ca moment of trauma for the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that a public inquiry would “get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attack occurred on the first day of summer vacation when the little girls at the Hart Space, a sanctuary hidden behind a row of houses, were in a class to learn yoga and dance to the songs of Taylor Swift. What was supposed to be a day of joy turned to terror and heartbreak when Rudakubana, armed with a knife, intruded and began stabbing the girls and their teacher in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England.<\/p>\n
Rudakubana faces life imprisonment when sentenced Thursday, Justice Julian Goose said.<\/p>\n
The guilty plea of Axel Rudakubana brings an end to a tragic and disturbing chapter in British history. The attack on the Taylor Swift-themed dance class was a senseless and brutal act that left three young girls dead and many more injured. The government’s decision to hold a public inquiry into the attack is a step towards ensuring that such a tragedy never happens again.<\/p>\n
Q: Who is Axel Rudakubana?
\nA: Axel Rudakubana is the 18-year-old British teenager who pleaded guilty to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the motive behind the attack?
\nA: The motive behind the attack is still unknown.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the reaction of the government to the attack?
\nA: The government announced it would hold an independent public inquiry into the attack and welcomed Rudakubana’s conviction.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the sentence for Rudakubana?
\nA: Rudakubana faces life imprisonment when sentenced Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Teen who stabbed girls at Taylor Swift-themed dance pleads guilty UK-born teenager’s guilty plea comes as jury selection was set to begin in Liverpool Crown Court A British teen pleaded guilty Monday to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a \u201cmeticulously planned\u201d stabbing rampage at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-reports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.nbclosangeles.com\/2025\/01\/AP25017651231330.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=1200%2C675&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5630"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5632,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5630\/revisions\/5632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}