Taylor Swift-Themed Dance Class Killer Gets 52 Years for Stabbing Girls

Taylor Swift-Themed Dance Class
Killer Gets 52 Years for Stabbing Girls

Published January 23, 2025 9:30 AM PST

The British man who pleaded guilty this week to murdering 3 little girls in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the UK last year has just been sentenced to 52 years in prison.

18-year-old Axel Rudakubana walked into a dance studio last summer and attacked children inside with a knife, killing 3 girls — a 6-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a 9-year-old — and injuring 10 others. He was arrested at the scene, still holding the kitchen knife he used.

Rudakubana — who was 17 at the time of the attack — was charged with murder and attempted murder, as well as producing poison, and possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual … the poison and the manual were found in his home after the attack. He pleaded not guilty in December, but changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial Monday.

The judge could not sentence him to life without parole due to Rudakabana being younger than 18 at the time of the attack. The Associated Press reports the judge ruled he must serve more than 51 years before being considered for parole and “it is likely he will never be released.”

The judge in the case said Rudakubana “wanted to try and carry out mass murder of innocent, happy young girls.”

In an Instagram post after the attack, Taylor told her fans she was “completely in shock” … “These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”