Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died in the attack in July last year.

A British teenager who killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event was jailed for at least 52 years on Thursday, for an attack Prime Minister Keir Starmer called one of the most harrowing moments in Britain's history.

Inside the courtroom where Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was jailed for 52 years - Rudakubana, 18, was not in court as his victim’s spoke of their anguish after he started shouting from the dock

A British teenager on Monday pleaded guilty to charges of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in northern England in July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting.

Pictures have been released of the armoury of weapons teenage killer Axel Rudakubana stored in his bedroom. When police raided his home after he carried out the attack in Southport on July 29, they found knives, archery arrows and a mystery substance later confirmed to be ricin, a biological toxin 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide.

Southport child-killer Axel Rudakubana is likely to die in jail after being detained for life with a minimum term of 52 years for the “sadistic” murders of three girls. 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.

In 12 years as a journalist, I’ve never sat through such a harrowing court hearing. It was impossible not to be moved to tears hearing the horrific injuries suffered by children as young as six

Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been detained at Liverpool Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and the attempted murder of eight other children in Southport.

Those are the words of the man who had the heavy responsibility of leading the investigation into the Southport stabbing attack that killed Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King, six. It was approaching 13:00 BST on 29 July when Det Ch Insp Jason Pye heard the news.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted murder following the attack in summer last year

Sky News presenter Sarah-Jane Mee twice broke down in tears on camera while reporting on the Axel Rudakubana sentencing outside Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday

Axel Rudakubana today admitted all charges connection with the Southport stabbings. The 18-year-old, of Banks in West Lancashire, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court this morning, Monday ...