It’s Thursday morning, January 23, 2025. Axel Rudakubana is arriving at Liverpool Crown Court in a secure van from prison. He is about to be sentenced for the brutal murder of Bebe King, 6, Elise Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024.

It is around 11.30 a.m., the legal counsel for the defence and prosecution are entering the court. The prosecution are led by Deanna Heer KC, with her junior Philip Astbury. 11.50 a.m. and Rudakubana is now in the dock, and Mr Justice Goose is sitting.

The process begins. Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC is reading the facts of the case. Rudakubana has carried out a “premeditated, planned attack” that was “sadistic in nature”, she notes, solemnly. “A number of weapons were recovered from his home, including ricin that he had produced, as well as a terror manual”. Having watched videos of atrocities, he “set out to emulate them”, she adds. Did Rudakubana have any remorse? It was “a good thing” the children had died, he said, Deanna Heer KC reminds the Court.

Deanna is about to read the pathological evidence. She pauses to allow families to leave the courtroom.  Knife injuries were extremely severe, she notes; “rapidly fatal”, some were even inflicted after the victim died. Later on, she discusses the injuries of the survivors.

The process continues, painful and traumatic, for everyone involved. The time comes for HHJ Julian Goose KC to pass sentence. He jails Rudakubana for life, to serve a minimum of 52 years for the murder of the three girls, the attempted murder of 10 others (eight children and two adults) and a number of other offences.

Monday, January 27, just 4 days after sentencing, forty Year 1 LLB Law students (most of them around 18-19 years of age, some a few years older, taking the criminal law class at Goldsmiths) enter the historic courtroom 2 at the Old Bailey. HHJ Rafferty KC, Visiting Professor in our Department, enthusiastically greets them and directs them to take their place where the jury would normally sit, in courtroom 2.

Across the room, a few yards away from the students, Deanna Heer KC, the Southport prosecutor (Deanna is a highly experienced criminal barrister, at 5 Paper Building, who is regularly instructed in the most serious and high-profile cases and accepts instructions on behalf of both the prosecution and the defence). She is sitting alongside Judge Rafferty and Prof Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, Head of the Law Department and Criminal Law lecturer at Goldsmiths.

Danielle Manson, the dynamic criminal defence barrister, of Matrix chambers, storms into the room a couple of minutes later.

Danielle, Judge Rafferty, Dimitrios and Deanna, on the one side of the room. The students on the other. On the students’ right, the dock, looming large, tall, strict, imposing. On their left, the judicial bench, empty.

We’re all set for this unique encounter as part of the Class in Court initiative.

from left to right: Deanna Heer KC, Prof Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, HHJ Angela Rafferty KC and Danielle Manson

Deanna goes first, as she had done at the Crown Court in Liverpool.  She starts with elements of criminal procedure: the Full Code test, the working relationship with the police, the work ethic and etiquette of barristers acting for the prosecution. Inevitably though, quickly, respectfully, she draws on examples from Southport. The students are glued. They’re in courtroom 2 at the Bailey. The Southport prosecutor transports them to the Crown Court at Liverpool. The dock is currently empty, as it remained in Liverpool; after twice loudly interrupting proceedings, Rudakubana asked for a paramedic and was eventually taken down to the court cells. “Coward”, shouted someone from the public gallery.

“How has your approach to prosecuting changed over the years”, asks one student at the end of Deanna’s presentation? “Why did we fail, as a society, to prevent Southport”, interjects another. Deanna gives insightful answers.

Danielle follows through. She speaks about her personal circumstances, the challenges she overcame to get to where she is today. She does not pull any punches: “race, class, your background, they all matter, when you’re seeking pupillage”. And “you have to be a bit beige perhaps, someone who can be moulded”.

Danielle “only defends”. She “takes issue with defending the State”, she explains. She then reflects on the cynicism that comes with this type of work. “There is very little that can shock you, eventually” and you need to have some “professional detachment”.

She describes in great detail the emotional impact that the profession can have on you. She captivates the students. They sit motionless.

Judge Rafferty prompts the two guests to go even deeper, fully open up with the students. Which they both do, with pleasure, and a sense of purpose.

We do not put it in words, but you can tell; this is the archetypically austere environment, but we broke through, there is a real connection, a moment that can shape experiences and transform.

That’s what we came here for…

*Detailed descriptions of sentencing at the Crown Court at Liverpool were taken from Southport killer Axel Rudakubana jailed for minimum of 52 years for murder of three girls at a dance class in 2024 – as it happened, The Guardian,