Southport attack killer Axel Rudakubana has been sentenced to a minimum of 52 years for murdering three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

A British teenager who murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event was jailed for at least 52 years on Thursday, for an atrocity prosecutors said was so violent it appeared he had tried to decapitate one of the victims.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder after attacking children and two adults at a dance class last July.

The parents of girls murdered by Axel Rudakubana have told Liverpool Crown Court of their "pain and fear" as they describe the impact the murders have had on their lives, as the killer is sentenced. The 18-year-old stabbed Alice da Silva Aguiar,

Evil Axel Rudakubana was today jailed for a minimum of 52 years for the 'sadistic' knife murders of three little girls at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport last summer. The 18-year-old was sentenced in his absence at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, after indicating he would be 'disruptive' if he was present in the courtroom.

Axel Rudakubana was expected to be sentenced to life in prison at Liverpool Crown Court for the murders of three young girls and attempted murders of eight other children in Southport in July.