A teenager who was planning a mass shooting at his old primary school has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 49 years for murdering his family.
Nicholas Prosper, from Luton, pleaded guilty to the murder of his mother, Juliana Falcon, 48, and his siblings, Kyle Prosper, 16, and 13-year-old Giselle Prosper at Luton Crown Court in February.
In sentencing, the judge said the words “heartless and brutal” were insufficient to describe the horror of the last moments suffered by his victims.
Their bodies were found at their flat in the town in September last year.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The 19-year-old planned to carry out a mass shooting at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, where Prosper and his siblings had been pupils, he admitted to police.
The court heard his aim was to be known as “the world’s most famous school shooter of the 21st century”.
Police believe he killed his family when his mother found a shotgun he had bought using a fake certificate and confronted him.
His scheme was eventually foiled by officers who spotted him in the street immediately after the murders and arrested him.
The loaded shotgun was found hidden in bushes nearby, along with more than 30 cartridges.
As his sentencing started on Tuesday, the court heard that “his planning was cold, deliberate and without sympathy or emotion towards the actual victims or potential victims”.
Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubbfacts said the details of Prosper’s case were “chilling”, and that he had wanted to emulate and outdo the US school massacres at Sandy Hook in 2012 and Virginia Tech in 2007.
His “main wish”, according to the prosecution, was notoriety, telling a prison nurse “I wish I had killed more”.
Follow our channel and never miss an update
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubbfacts said Prosper had not hated his mother or siblings and had “had a good life with them”, but that his intention had been to kill them in their sleep and rape his sister.
“Each victim suffered the anguish of anticipating or being aware of the deaths of others,” she said.
In explaining why she had opted not to impose a whole-life sentence, the judge said: “A minimum term does not in any way equate to the value of the life of a murder victim, still less three such victims.”
She acknowledged that Prosper had autism spectrum disorder, but said she was satisfied that it did not affect his decision-making enough to be the primary reason why he carried out the killings.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
“A murder spree with the sole aim of glorifying the name of the perpetrator in the history of mass killers is what you intended,” she said.
“You have also expressed no remorse and no sorrow. Indeed, when asked by the psychiatrist if you would try to commit another massacre, you replied: ‘Well, that’s their job to stop me getting the weapons if I get released’.“
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubbfacts added: “Your plans were intelligent, calculated and unselfish. Your ambition was notoriety. You wanted to be known posthumously as the world’s most famous school shooter of the 21st century.
“Words such as heartless and brutal are insufficient to describe the horror of those last moments of the people who were closest to you.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
A statement from the family of the victims was read outside the court.
It said they now understood the deaths had “much more meaning and importance” because they “stopped any other family in the community going through the pain we have suffered”.
“For now, we would ask people to remember Juliana, Kyle and Giselle for the people they were. Julie was a strong, loving mother to her four children, who were her absolute world.
“Kyle was a kind and funny young man who loved football and boxing. He was a big talent with massive potential. Giselle was a beautiful soul and caring young girl with an infectious smile. She was also an exceptional pupil at school and was loved dearly by her friends.”
