
A man convicted of killing three people refused to leave his prison cell for his court hearing today.
Axel Rudakubana, who was convicted of murder in Southport, had to be given a new sentence to fix a mistake in the original ruling made nearly two weeks ago. His sentence was changed from “custody for life” to “detention at His Majesty’s pleasure” because he was under 18 when he committed the crimes.
Despite being scheduled to appear in court via video link from HMP Belmarsh, Rudakubana refused to come out of his cell. His lawyer, Carmel Wilde, told the court, “We have been informed by Belmarsh staff that he has refused to leave his cell to attend court or speak to his legal team.”
This comes after he caused multiple outbursts during his sentencing in January, which led to him being removed from the courtroom.
During that hearing, as Judge Goose tried to proceed, the 18-year-old interrupted, saying, “I feel ill, judge. I feel ill. I’m going to pass out. No, I can’t continue with this.” The judge told him to stay quiet, but Rudakubana kept shouting, saying he needed medical help because his chest was hurting. As he was taken out of the courtroom, someone in the public gallery called him a “coward.”
Today, Judge Goose explained that the hearing was only to fix a technical error and that it would not change the overall sentence given to Rudakubana on January 23. He confirmed that it was still a life sentence, just in a different legal form. The judge also noted that Rudakubana had chosen not to attend the hearing.