The terrible crimes of Axel Rudakubana in Southport has once again raised the subject of capital punishment. Should he be hung for his crimes? This is a subject that I am sure we all have a strong opinion on. As someone who has long opposed the death penalty, such cases are deeply problematic for me. Firstly, in this case, which is absolutely cut and dried, if we had the death penalty on the statute book, I'd shed no tears if Rudakubana was hung and I'd make no argument against it. Murdering children is inexcuseable and the planet would be well rid of him. As far as I can see, there is no realistic prospect of him ever being released. I would suspect that he'll have to be kept apart from ordinary criminals for the rest of his life. You could probably argue that it would be kinder to put him out of his misery. There are only two ways his life will develop. He will either realise the error of his ways, and if there is an ounce of decency in his soul, he'd accept his fate and not complain or petition for release in 52 years, or he'll go to his grave thinking he was right. There must be no prospect of him ever coming out, in my opinion. He will be 70 when he's elegible for parole. I know plenty of 70 year olds who are fit and healthy, so as far as I am concerned, he would still be a potential threat to children.
However, the real world situation is that capital punishment is not on the statute book in the UK, whether we like it or not. To change this situation, we'd need to change the law. Sadly, Axel Rudakubana has already been sentenced, so even if we could rush a bill through Parliament, it would be no use at all in his case. You can't change the law and then change the sentence. Sadly, the law doesn't work like that. You may wish it did, but do you really trust politicians with the power to change peoples sentences after the process of law has been applied. The law works in the way it does to protect us from dodgy government. So the best any of us could hope for, would be to get a change in the law on the books for the next Axel Rudakubana. Whilst we all hope that such a person doesn't exist, none of us would be genuinely surprised if another such monster exists.
The horrific truth about lunatics who are motivated by religious fanaticism, is that often they believe that the death penalty will guarantee them a free ticket to heaven as martyrs. It might possibly encourage such people, as their sick logic thinks it will give them the key to heaven. Being locked up for life doesn't give them the free ticket to paradise that they so desire. Now, it may well make us all feel better to see them sent to Hell early, but I'd rather they were discouraged from their sick folly by removing the offer of a free pass.
As to changing the law. As far as I am concerned, if we had a referendum and capital punishment was restored, anyone who voted for the proposal would be personally responsible for the death of every person executed, just as they would be if they pulled the trigger or the hangmans lever. I can honestly say that in the case of Axel Rudakubana I'd have no personal qualms pulling the lever. The man is a monster, but sadly the UK has a history of catching and demonising the wrong people. The IRA bombings in Guildford and Birmingham saw just this. There were calls for these innocent people to be hung at the time. No one culpable has ever faced justice for these atrocities, which is a scandal as big as the wrong people being locked up. No justice for those victims. The idea that not only the innocent victims of the bombs, but the poor suckers who took the rap would all be dead now is horrific, as I am sure that they'd have faced capital punsihment when convicted, if it was on the statute books.
When there are horrific atrocities, there is huge pressure on the police. When culprits are caught literally red handed, such as Rudakubana, the police job is pretty straightforward. When they are not caught at the scene, there is huge pressure to offer up a sacrifice. Nothing made me more aware of this than when Jean Charles De Menezes was shot on 22 July 2005. I was working in Aldgate and it was pure luck I wasn't on the tube that was blown up on 7/7. I knew personally a few victims from our office. Martine Wright MBE, who lost her legs on that day's brother Grant is a schoolmate. When the news came through, into our office that a "terrorist" had been shot (when the news of Menezes death broke), we all cheered and went to the pub to celebrate. We felt safer. I joked that I'd have shot him myself if I had a gun. Then we found that Menezes was an innocent man. The police lied about the circumstances. They lied about their mistakes. I hang my head in shame to this day, thinking about my response.
To this day, when I visit Aldgate to see mates and have a beer and a curry when passing through Aldgate, I see the memorial to those killed. Every time I see that, I say a private prayer for their families and prayer of apology to Jean Charles for my shameful response on the day of his death. A quick google showed that there was a 20% rise in miscarriages of justice claims in 2022. It rose from 1,198 to 1424. Twenty five cases were referred back to the courts, incuding six murderers, and seventeen were overturned. So, if for arguments sake, five murderers a year are wrongly convicted, that would be potentially fifty a decade, who potentially would be hung when innocent. This was one of the reasons that capital punishment was originally abolished. I don't want the deaths of innocent people, often fitted up by the Police because they are vulnerable, on me.
There are three other reasons that capital punishment can be counter productive. The first is that juries are far less prepared to convict people if they think they may be executed by the state. No one wants innocent blood on their hands. More people will walk free, if there is the slightest doubt in their mind and clever lawyers make their livings planting such doubts in a credible manner. The second is that someone like Rudakubana would have an incentive to plead innocent and put families through the mill and maybe, just maybe, get off. He pleaded guilty at the last minute. Of course it was cut and dried, but we all know that lawyers can sometimes find loopholes and legal arguments, that would let a monster walk free. The third reason is that the police will have to put far more resources into cut and dried investigations, due to the two reasons above. They simply couldn't risk the prospect of someone like Rudakubana finding a loophole or trading on the sympathy of a few anti capital punishment jurors to get off. Bear in mind, juries are randomly selected members of the public and a sizeable percentage of people do not agree with capital punishment. You only need three out of twelve and that is a mistrial. We'd see more mistrials and retrials and jurors bottle the decision.
The world isn't perfect. With my mystic Meg hat on, I'll make a prediction. We've not heard the last of Rudakubana. I fully expect other prisoners to attack him. I don't think he will live long enough to see his parole date. He is a marked man in prison. He will have few, if any friends inside and he's got his whole lifetime ahead of him, stuck on his own, watching his back, having God knows what added to his food. It is a miserable, pathetic existence. As time goes on, I expect to see apologists for his behaviour come out of the woodwork. I expect to see people claim he was just a child. I expect to see people claim that he was the victim of the system and an injustice. All of that is to come.
And then there are the families of the three little girls. Their life sentence is even worse than Rudakubana's. They don't have to watch their backs, they don't have to check their food, they don't have to sit in solitary confinement. But those Mums and Dad's will never have a day when they don't feel the loss. Losing a child is awful beyond comprehension. To lose it to a monster, and face a lifetime of being reminded is horrible. At some point, they will turn on the telly, radio or look at a website and see some bleeding heart making the case for Rudakabana. That is the most awful aspect of their life sentence. In truth, they have already been the victim of capital punishment. Rudakabana mercilessly executed a part of their heart. He does not deserve to live, but in this sick world, we have to share our oxygen with him.
The title of this blog is Should the British state execute Axel Rudakubana for his crimes? if the law allowed it, of course it should, but at the same time, given the place we are, we have to accept that it won't happen, because if we allow the law and then sentences to be changed retrospectively to suit public mood, we will end up in a far darker and more dangerous place, where dodgy governments can go after those they deem to be troublesome, after the court has taken judgement.
The only solace I can really take is my belief that he will never be released, he will have a horrible life, always watching his back, locked up with other monsters. If any of the bleeding hearts who feel sorry for him have any real compassion, think of the parent and STFU. At least give them some peace and quiet to grieve in.
I must finish this piece by stating that of all the blogs I've ever written, this was by far the most difficult. I have never felt more revolted by a case or had a more difficult challenge to my personal beliefs. I am prepared for a barrage of people telling me I got it wrong. But if you are a blogger and you feel strongly about something, it would be cowardly not to speak, not to advance what you believe are rational arguments and to bury your head in the sand. I deliberately did not discuss the issues around whether Rudakubana should have been labelled a terrorist, not because it isn't important, but todays blog is solely about his sentence, not the issues around his background. For the record, I think when you attack children, for any reason, be it if you are a paedophile, a terrorist, a lunatic or just someone having a bad day, you should be locked up and the key thrown away and the reasons really don't matter.
If you disagree, by all means leave a comment. If it does not contain profanities or libellous statements, I'll publish it. We still live in a free country and we are all allowed a view. Write to your MP, write to the Attourney General, write to Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper (Home secretary). We deserve answers and we owe it to the parents to get them.
