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.

I consider it likely he will never be released,” judge says, adding that Axel Rudakubana must serve a minimum of 52 years in detention for his “extreme violence”.

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.

A British teenager on Thursday repeatedly interrupted the start of his sentencing for murdering three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event last July, shouting from the dock that he was unwell before being removed.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, faces a sentencing hearing Thursday at Liverpool Crown Court in England over the July 29 attack.

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.