Teenager who shot family plotted to kill 30 children

A 19-year-old who murdered his family and was plotting a school shooting wanted to be the worst mass school killer the UK has seen, a court has heard.

- MARGARET DAVIS

Nicholas Prosper, from Luton, Bedfordshire, plotted to carry out “killing for the sake of killing” at his former primary school in a bid to become a notorious mass murderer.

Luton Crown Court heard that he had been planning his crimes for months before he shot his mother Juliana Falcon, 48, and siblings Giselle Prosper, 13, and Kyle Prosper, 16, at the flat the family shared in the town on 13 September last year.

He carried out a test shot on a teddy bear in his bedroom before the killings, which also saw him stab his brother more than 100 times.

Prosper admitted to their murders at an earlier hearing, as well as purchasing a shotgun without a certificate, possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life and possession of a kitchen knife in a public place.

At the beginning of his sentencing hearing yesterday, the court heard how Juliana and Kyle were found in the hallway of the flat the family shared in Leabank, while Giselle was found under a dining table where she may have been trying to hide.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray KC told the court: “The killing of his family was to be first step in an even more shocking mass killing.