Triple murderer who plotted UK’s worst school shooting jailed for 49 years

A teenager who murdered his mum, brother and sister before planning to carry out ‘the most famous school shooting of the 21^st century’ has been jailed for at least 49 years.

Nicholas Prosper, 19, massacred his family at the flat they shared in Luton on September 13 last year as part of a warped bid to become the world’s most notorious mass killer.

He idolised Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza and targeted his old school, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, with the aim of eventually killing 34 – one more than the US’s deadliest school shooting of recent times, at Virginia Tech.

To achieve that goal, he forged a firearms certificate and researched clay pigeon shooting to persuade a legitimate dealer to sell him a shotgun the day before.

Jailing Prosper for life at the town’s crown court today, judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told him: ‘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.

‘The lives of your own mother and younger brother and sister were to be collateral damage on the way to fulfil your ambition.’

That ambition to murder at least 30 four and five-year-old children at St Joseph’s was only thwarted by the struggle his mum Juliana Falcon, 48, put up when she woke up early.

His plan was to murder his family before leaving the flat at 8.30am and arriving at the school for 9am.

After entering the early years classroom, he would pretend to be there to rob the teacher before opening fire on the youngsters inside, moving on to other classrooms until his grim tally had been reached.

The judge told Prosper: ‘You wanted to cause the biggest massacre in the 21^st century, as there hadn’t been one.

‘Your mother waking up at about 4.50am had triggered your activity earlier. You wished you had killed more.’

Juliana was shot in the head with a shotgun – purchased from a legitimate dealer the previous day using a forged licence – at near point-blank range before Prosper placed the novel ‘How to Kill Your Family’ on her legs.

He then fired at his 13-year-old sister, Giselle Prosper, as she tried to run for cover before blasting the ‘terrified’ youngster in the face while she cowered under a table.

Prosper’s brother Kyle, 16, bravely tried to defend himself from the rampage but Luton Crown Court heard ‘it was an unequal contest’.

After disarming him with a shot to the chest, Prosper ‘slashed him more than 100 times to his head, face, neck, torso and limbs, while he pleaded with you not to kill him’, the judge said.

Kyle managed to flee into the hallway where he was finally killed with a shot to the head.

Prosper hid for just over two hours before flagging down police officers in a nearby street and showing them where he had hidden a loaded shotgun and 33 cartridges near playing fields.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘This was a horrendous and cowardly attack of unthinkable brutality. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Juliana, Kyle and Giselle at this devastating time.

‘It is hard to comprehend what might have happened were it not for the courageous response of police officers to arrest the killer so quickly. Thank you to them for saving innocent young lives.

‘What we have seen again in this case again is senseless killings fuelled purely by a disturbing fixation with violence and obsessive brutality.

‘This terrible case has exposed deep and longstanding weaknesses in private firearms sales, and we are urgently looking at how we can tighten these controls.

‘But it also shows an urgent need to look at the very disturbing way some young people are becoming fixated with extreme violent material online and the real dangers to our communities as a result.

‘From tech companies to law enforcement to schools, and right across society, stronger recognition of the nature of this threat is needed, and stronger action to prevent this kind of terrible violence.’

Downing Street condemned Prosper’s ‘appalling crime’ and said the Government is ‘urgently looking’ at how controls can be tightened in the private sale of firearms.

His sentence has since been referred to the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme by Conservative shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan.

Dr Mullan said: ‘What exactly does someone have to do in this country to be sent away for life? This was the most serious of crimes – including the murder of two children.

‘What is the point of making provision for whole-life orders if they aren’t used in cases like this? It makes a mockery of the justice system and is an insult to the victims.’

Detective Superintendent Rob Hall read a statement on behalf of Raymond Prosper, the father of Nicholas, Kyle and Giselle.

It read: ‘We are devastated by the loss of our loved ones, and are horrified to hear what Nicholas had planned. He had completely isolated himself from us over the past year, and we had no knowledge of his intentions.

‘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. 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. In her spare time, she was a keen athlete and enjoyed raising money for charity.

‘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.’

Maureen Murphy, headteacher at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, said: ‘We were extremely shocked and devastated to learn that there was a plan to target children and staff at our school, in particular the early years classes.

‘However, we are comforted that our children and staff did not come to any harm.

‘We would like to reassure our parents and carers that the safety of children is of paramount importance, and this will never be compromised.

‘Over the past weeks we have reviewed our safeguarding systems including examining our procedures such as lockdown and safety processes to ensure they are as robust as possible. And Luton Council has also supported us to review the security of our site.

‘We fully appreciate that the details revealed in the sentencing hearing may be upsetting and distressful for staff, parents, carers and children therefore in liaison with the council’s education service, a range of support is available to those who may need it over the coming days.

‘The Prosper family were a cherished part of our school community and at this time our thoughts and prayers are with their relatives, friends and the wider community.’

Detective Chief Inspector Sam Khanna said: ‘In my entire policing career, which has included many years spent on the major crime team, I’ve never encountered anyone capable of such horrific acts, of showing no remorse.

‘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.

‘This has been an incredibly difficult and complex investigation, and I would like to thank all the officers and staff involved in achieving this result today.’

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