Reporter at Southport killer sentencing says ‘there’s some issues you may’t unsee’
Mirror reporter Hollie Bone said she had to stop writing and take a deep breath when hearing about the sadistic injuries Axel Rudakubana inflicted on a dance class of young girls
A journalist reporting on the Southport killer’s sentencing from court has spoken about the horrific details that came to light during the trial.
Mirror reporter Hollie Bone was in court for the trial of Axel Rudakubana who pleaded guilty to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in a barbaric, frenzied attack July last year in Southport.
The 18-year-old, who was aged 17 at the time, has been sentenced to a minimum term of 52-years for fatally stabbing Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and injuring 10 more. So horrendous were some of the details and court antics, Bone said that she “was relived that some of the girl’s parents had decided not to attend court”.
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Writing for the Mirror, she said: “There are things you see and hear that you can never unsee or forget.
“Hearing the details of the horrific injuries these little girls sustained was so appalling that at times I had to stop writing and take a deep breath with my head in my hands.”
She said the audible sobs and sniffles coming from the public gallery were a “constant reminder that this disturbed teenager had ripped so many lives apart”.
Adding to the anguish felt by many, Rudakubana tried to turn his sentencing into “a circus”, by screaming at the Judge and demanding to see as paramedic.
She wrote: “Before it had even begun, the gutless killer forced the packed out courtroom to wait 50 minutes before he sloped into the dock and buried his head between his knees.”
The “relief” Bone felt once the sick teen was thrown out for being disruptive, was “short-lived”.
“Just minutes later we would be shown the CCTV of the attack as it unfolded. Gasps of horror ripped through the room as we watched little girls collapse in the carpark, desperately fleeing for their lives with stab wounds across their tiny bodies,” she explained.
“One woman was so distraught she had to get up and leave. When the court was shown the moment that heroic dance teacher Leanne Lucas led a group of girls running through the car park to safety, she too had to leave the courtroom.
“Many covered their eyes and faces as a picture of the bloodied knife used flashed up on a TV screen reviewing the evidence.”
Bone added that despite of the horrors of the case, a glimmer of hope came as a survivor, a 14-year-old girl, addressed the court to tell Rudakubana she thinks he’s a coward.
In a voice that “barely faltered” she told him: “Whilst you live behind bars alone, I will make sure that my sister and I, and our family will do our best to move forward with our lives.”
