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A “truly evil” 19-year-old who murdered his mother and two younger siblings as part of a failed plot to kill 30 children and become the worst mass murderer in British history has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 49 years.
Nicholas Prosper admitted murdering Juliana Falcon, 48, Kyle Prosper, 16, and Giselle Prosper, 13, last month. Their murders were part of a wider plot to storm a morning assembly at his former primary school with a shotgun and “cause the biggest massacre of the 21st century”.
He also admitted buying a shotgun without a certificate, possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life and possession of a kitchen knife in a public place.
Prosper initially refused to attend Luton crown court on Wednesday but was ordered to appear by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, causing the start of the hearing to be delayed. He kept his head in his hands as she read out her remarks and he refused to stand to hear his sentence.
Addressing Prosper, the judge said: “You intended to unleash disaster on the community of Luton. Your plans were intelligent, calculating and selfish.
“Your ambition was notoriety. You wanted to be known posthumously as the world’s most famous school shooter of the 21st century.”
Prosper’s plan failed when his mother confronted him after realising he was in possession of a gun. A lengthy, violent struggle followed that resulted in the entire family being shot dead.
Cheema-Grubb paid tribute to Juliana, Kyle and Giselle, saying their “deaths are almost certain to have saved the lives of many children. The community owes them its gratitude and their memory should be honoured.”
Her words were echoed by Raymond Prosper, the father of Nicholas, Kyle and Giselle, who said in a statement read by police: “We now see the deaths of Juliana, my son Kyle and daughter Giselle had much more meaning and importance.
“Their deaths and the fast response of Bedfordshire police stopped any other family in the community going through the pain we have suffered.” He added he wanted people to remember “loving” Juliana, “kind and funny” Kyle and “exceptional” Giselle for who they were.
DCI Sam Khanna, of Bedfordshire police, said he had never “encountered anyone capable of such horrific acts” throughout his entire police career.
Khanna said: “I’ve been utterly shocked and appalled by the actions and plans of the offender in this case, and I’m pleased that this truly evil individual will serve a significant proportion of his life behind bars.”
On Tuesday, Luton crown court heard how he had shot his family dead at their home in Luton after a violent struggle and how it was part of a wider plan to carry out a mass shooting at St Joseph’s Catholic primary school, where he and his siblings were pupils, to gain notoriety as a mass murderer.
His plan was months in the making. Prosper surveilled St Joseph’s, taking images of staff and students from the school’s website and noting the times of lessons and assembly.
The day before the murders, Prosper bought a shotgun from an online seller for £650 after he “made a high-quality forgery of a shotgun certificate or licence”.
He had planned to murder his family while they slept on Friday 13 September, a date chosen on purpose, and then leave the home at about 8.30am to travel to St Joseph’s school to carry out the attack.
His plans were disrupted when his family realised that something was wrong. After they challenged him, there was a violent struggle.
The court heard that Juliana was killed by a single shotgun shot to her head but her hands and arms had “slash injuries and bruising as if she had been trying to ward off blows from a knife”. Giselle was killed with a single gunshot to her face. Her body was found underneath a dining table “as if she had been trying to hide there”. Kyle died after being shot twice. His body was found with more than 100 knife wounds.
Neighbours called the police after hearing the sounds of frantic footsteps, shouting and gunshots. Prosper fled the home before officers arrived, holding a bag containing the shotgun he had used to murder his family. Alongside the gun were 33 cartridges, which he had planned to use at a morning assembly at St Joseph’s.
After hiding for two hours and believing his plan was thwarted, as police swarmed the area, Prosper flagged down officers in a marked car and they arrested him.
The court heard details of a note outlining Prosper’s plan. In it, he wrote the entire attack would be “one of the biggest events ever” and it included a diagram pointing to one of the early years classrooms at St Joseph’s and an arrow pointing to a second classroom. Beside the first classroom he had written: “Kill all.”
Maureen Murphy, the headteacher of St Joseph’s, said last month that staff were “very shocked” to learn of the plan.
Prosper has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. A doctor who assessed Prosper said his diagnosis did not explain his lack of empathy and remorse and said he had “psychopathic traits”.
Cheema-Grubb said: “It is important to note that your ASD does not correlate to an increased risk of violence. Nor did ASD, in this case, impair your ability to understand the nature of your conduct, exercise self-control or form rational judgments when you decided to commit violent crimes.”
