Southport murders: No 10 rejects calls to change law on whole-life sentences

Downing Street says whole-life terms cannot be extended to killers under age of 18 because of international law

Downing Street has rejected calls for sentencing reforms, saying it does not have the power to extend whole-life sentences to killers aged under 18 because of international law.

Alex Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison on Thursday for the murder of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, at a dance class last July, and the attempted murder of eight others, as well as two adults who tried to save them.