HANGING should be brought back for monsters like Axel Rudakubana, MPs demanded tonight.
Reform Party politicians said the horrifying nature of the Southport attack warranted the death penalty.
Axel Rudakubana was handed a minimum jail term of 52 years
Lee Anderson called for hanging as a punishmentAlamy
Rupert Lowe said: “It is my opinion that now is the time for a national debate on the use of the death penalty in exceptional circumstances. This is an exceptional circumstance.”
His colleague Lee Anderson posted a picture of a hangman’s noose, saying “this is what is required”.
And Reform’s deputy Richard Tice said we should not “be afraid of having a national debate on important big issues like”.
The last person executed in Britain was in 1964, but the death penalty was not officially abolished until 1998.
Rudakubana was today handed a minimum 52 years in prison, with the judge blocked by giving him a whole life order because he was 17 at the time of the murders.
Read more on the tragedy
Axel Rudakubana was sentenced today over the Southport massacre
The monster told police “I’m glad they’re dead” after the horror
A dance teacher made a heartbreaking victim impact statement
The families of victims told how their lives were ‘shattered in an instant’
Shocking pictures show a cache of weapons found in Rudakubana’s home
All the missed chances to stop the killer have been revealed
A Sky News reporter broke down on air while covering the sentencing
Kemi Badenoch tonight led calls for tougher laws so teenage monsters like him can die in jail.
She urged a review of sentencing rules that currently let under-18s like the Southport beast dodge whole life tariffs.
She said: “His age means he has not been given a whole life sentence, despite the countless lives he destroyed on that dreadful day, and the legacy of mistrust he has sown across the country.
“There is a strong case here for amending the law to give clear judicial discretion to award whole life sentences to under-u18s, which Conservatives will start to explore.”
She said her party will not shy away from confronting the “hard truths” of “integration” and “extreme ideologies”.
Southport’s Labour MP Patrick Hurley also backed a law change if needed to keep him behind bars for life.
Within minutes of the judge handing down a minimum jail time of 52 years, the sentence was immediately referred to the Attorney General for being unduly lenient.
The UK’s Law Officers now have 28 days to decide whether to appeal the sentencing, considering the “high threshold” for doing so.”
PM Sir Keir Starmer said: “The thoughts of the entire nation are with the families and everyone affected by the unimaginable horrors that unfolded in Southport. No words will ever be able to capture the depth of their pain.
“I want to say directly to the survivors, families and community of Southport – you are not alone. We stand with you in your grief.
“What happened in Southport was an atrocity and as the judge has stated, this vile offender will likely never be released.
“After one of the most harrowing moments in our country’s history we owe it to these innocent young girls and all those affected to deliver the change that they deserve.”
Why didn’t judge give Southport killer a whole life tariff?
AXEL Rudakubana carried out his twisted rampage when he was 17 years old but despite the horrific nature of his crimes, he was not be given a whole life tariff.
The rare sentencing order can only be handed down to anyone aged 21 or over.
Due to Rudakubana’s age, this means he will not spend the rest of his life in prison.
Whole-life orders can sometimes be considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances.
Although Rudakubana is now 18, he does not fall into this category due to the fact he was 17 when he committed his offences.
The killer was instead be given a life sentence but with a minimum tariff. This means he must spend that amount of time behind bars before he is considered for release.
The judge imposed a minimum term of 52 years, which is one of the highest on record and is thought to be the longest punishment handed to a killer of his age.
Taking into account the 175 days he has already served on remand, he will be required to serve 51 years and 190 days before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board.
Despite the length of the minimum term, it has already been referred to the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi, 23, was handed a record-breaking 55-year minimum term in 2020 for 22 murders and attempted killings. The terrorist orchestrated the 2017 atrocity when he was 20.
Prior to that, the longest minimum term imposed on a terrorist in Britain is believed to have been 50 years in the case of David Copeland.
The 22-year-old was given six life sentences for targeting Brick Lane, Soho and Brixton in 1999 in a 13-day nail bombing campaign that left three people dead and 139 injured.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
