Southport killer Axel Rudakubana repeatedly referred to counter-terrorism program

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was referred to the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism program several times before the attack because of his general obsession with violence, government sources have told the BBC.

On Monday, the 18-year-old admitted stabbing three young girls to death in July last year during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

He also pleaded guilty to several charges, including attempted murder of eight children and two adults, production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual, a terrorist offense.

Despite this, his case was never treated as terrorism-related by police, as he did not appear to follow an ideology such as Islamism or racial hatred, but rather seemed motivated by an interest in extreme violence.

After admitting his crimes, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) described him as a “young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence” and said he had shown no signs of remorse.

Rudakubana has been described as having an unstable character, anger issues and a tendency to act violently.

He attended Range High School in Formby where he began having problems with violence in year 9.

His comrades remember his obsession with despotic figures, notably Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler. He is also known to have accessed information about the IRA.

Rudakubana was excluded from school in October 2019, at the age of 13, after which he returned to school in December 2019 with a hockey stick and assaulted a student, breaking his wrist. He had to be restrained by a teacher.

After that, he attended Acorns School, which provides specialist training for people with additional needs, and was then enrolled at Presfield High School & Specialist College.

He only attended sixth grade there for a few days and was largely treated through home visits. The school sometimes asked the police to be present during their visit.

It was revealed last August that he had been “diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder” and was “unwilling to leave the house and communicate with his family for a period of time.”

Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents in 2006 and moved to the Southport area in 2013.

He took acting classes at the Pauline Quirk Academy and appeared in a promotional video for BBC Children in Need in 2018, which has since stated that it has no affiliation with him.

The BBC removed the video from its websites following the Southport attack.

Neighbors on the street where he and his family lived in Banks, West Lancashire, about 6 miles from Southport, told the BBC that police had visited the house several times in the months since preceded the attack on Southport.

On the day of the attack, a doorbell camera filmed him pacing outside the family home, before taking a taxi to the dance studio where he would carry out the stabbings .

Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, were all killed.

Rudakubana initially pleaded not guilty after refusing to speak at a hearing, but was found guilty on Monday, the first day of his trial.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday and is expected to receive life in prison.

However, he cannot receive a life sentence for his crimes because he is under 21 years old.