What we know as Axel Rudakubana pleads guilty to Southport knife attack
18-year-old Axel Rudakubana will be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to murdering three young girls at a dance class in Southport.
A public inquiry into how Southport killer Axel Rudakubana "came to be so dangerous" has been announced by the government.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it will also examine why the Prevent counter-extremism programme "failed to identify the terrible risk" he posed to others.
Announcing the inquiry, Cooper said the 18-year-old had "contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years" before carrying out his "meticulously planned rampage" at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July that left three girls dead.
It was revealed earlier that Rudakubana was referred to Prevent three times as a child. He had an apparent interest in violence and the killing of children in a school massacre, according to a report by the Guardian, with the earliest referral made when he was 13.
Rudakubana was due to stand trial charged with the murders of three girls, aged six, seven and nine. However, Rudakubana pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, before families of the victims had a chance to see him admit his guilt. He is now due to be sentenced on Thursday.
He admitted to the three counts of murder, the attempted murders of eight other children, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, possession of a knife, production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
The Southport attack, and misinformation online about the attacker's identity, fuelled a wave of rioting across the country, with mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers among the locations targeted, resulting in substantial jail sentences for some offenders.
Who is Axel Rudakubana?
Neighbours previously described Rudakubana's family as unremarkable, but now that he has pleaded guilty, it can be reported that teachers had concerns about his behaviour.
It is understood Rudakubana showed violent behaviour during his time at school, and was excluded from his secondary school over an incident involving a hockey stick.
The teenager, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, is believed to have been excluded from Range High School in Formby, in around 2019, after telling Childline that he was being racially bullied and was bringing a knife into school to protect himself, it is understood.
It is not known if he was being bullied or if he ever brought a weapon into the school while he was a pupil.
After his exclusion, he returned to the school and assaulted someone with a hockey stick, the intended target being a former bully or someone he had a grievance with, it is understood.
It is thought Rudakubana then attended two specialists schools, The Acorns School in Lancashire and Presfield High School and Specialist College in Southport, and that teachers were concerned about his behaviour. His in-person attendance at Presfield was less than 1%, it is understood.
Just a week before he went to the dance class in The Hart Space, he booked a taxi to take him to Range High School, but his father stopped him from leaving, according to the Press Association news agency.
Rudakubana had also been referred to the counter-extremism scheme Prevent three times, the Guardian revealed, with the first referral made in 2019 when he was 13.
Concerns were raised in an apparent interest in violence and the killing of children in a school massacre, the newspaper reports, and it was recommended that Rudakubana be referred to other services, but it is not clear if this was followed up.
Born in Cardiff to Rwandan immigrants, Rudakubana's family – his father, mother and older brother – moved to the quiet Lancashire seaside town of Banks in 2013, where he lived at the time of the attack.
Neighbours of the family described a “lovely couple” with a hardworking father and stay-at-home mother to “two boisterous boys”.
Rudakubana was aged 17 when he was arrested and charged over last summer's attack, with a judge ruling he could be named one week before his 18th birthday.
The court was told he had no obvious evidence of mental health disorder which required diversion to hospital.
An unexpected guilty plea
During subsequent pre-trial hearings, Rudakubana held his sweater over his face and did not speak to confirm his name.
There had been no inkling to anyone the defendant would change his plea on Monday.
Rudakubana did not stand when asked to by the court clerk and judge after entering court, did not reply when he was asked to confirm his name and remained seated in the dock as he entered guilty pleas.
The clerk began reading each of the 16 counts of the indictment, with the defendant replying with the single word “guilty” each time and the clerk repeating back “You wish to change your plea to guilty”.
Mr Justice Goose said: “I am conscious of the fact the families are not here today. You have now pleaded guilty to this indictment and to each of the charges upon it.”
He added: “You will understand it is inevitable the sentence to be imposed upon you will mean a life sentence equivalent will be imposed upon you. I will have to complete the sentencing process on that occasion.”
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, confirmed the families had not attended because it was assumed the trial would open on Tuesday, with the judge saying he extended his apologies to them not being able to hear Rudakubana's pleas themselves.
Patrick Hurley, the MP for Southport, told BBC Radio 5 Live there is “surprise and shock” across the town over the last-minute change of plea.
“There is surprise and shock at the development this morning but we are all hoping throughout the town that the families get the justice and the outcome they need," he said.
“Everybody across the town and the families who are most closely involved and the families of the victims were bracing themselves for the next four weeks. It was never going to be an easy time for anybody here.”
What did he plead guilty to?
Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
He was also admitted to the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes in the same incident.
He was also pleaded guilty to possession of a knife, production of a biological toxin – ricin – on or before July 29, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, which he was said to have possessed between 29 August 2021 and 30 July 2024.
The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the family home, but police said there was no evidence of a terrorist motivation.
Speaking outside court after the hearing, deputy chief crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle said: “This was an unspeakable attack – one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness.
“At the start of the school holidays, a day which should have been one of carefree innocence, of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage.
“It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence. He has shown no sign of remorse.”
State has 'grave questions' to answer over Southport attack
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said that while news of the "vile and sick Southport killer" is welcome, it is also "a moment of trauma for the nation".
"There are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls," he said. "Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit."
“At the centre of this horrific event, there is still a family and community grief that is raw, a pain that not even justice can ever truly heal," he added as he paid his respects to the victims' families.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was among politicians asking questions about the government's response to the attack, demanding that home secretary Yvette Cooper appear in Parliament to account for why Rudakubana’s terror links were not revealed sooner.
Farage said a “vacuum of information” about the suspect had fuelled the riots, and claimed Reform UK had been blocked from asking questions about potential terror links to the attacks in the House of Commons.
“There was nothing about what I asked that would have in any way threatened contempt of court," he added.
Who were the victims?
The first child victim to be named was nine-year-old Alice Aguiar, a year four pupil at Southport's Churchtown Primary School.
In a tribute message, her parents said: “Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our Princess, like we said before to you, you’re always our princess and no one would change that. Love from Your Hero Daddy and Mummy.”
The family of Bebe King, six, who also went to Churchtown Primary, was described by headteacher Jinnie Payne as a "joyful girl, whose kindness radiated through the entire Churchtown community".
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was described by her great aunt as “lovely, sweet and gentle”, the BBC reported. Jean Stevenson said her grand-niece was “absolutely the sweetest child you could ever wish to meet”.
Read more
Southport attacker’s ricin killed my cat, neighbour claims (The Telegraph)
'I'll never forget the screaming': How the people of Southport are trying to make sense of horror (Sky News)
‘We don’t want Southport to become another Dunblane’ (The Telegraph)
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