A teenager on Monday pleaded guilty to the “unspeakable” killing of three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the UK’s most violent riots in a decade.
On what was set to be the opening day of his trial, Axel Rudakubana, 18, admitted murdering the three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, northwest England.
The July stabbings sent shockwaves across the UK, triggering unrest and riots in more than a dozen English and Northern Irish towns and cities, including in Southport and Liverpool.
Authorities blamed far-right agitators for fuelling the violence, including by sharing misinformation claiming the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. In fact, Rudakubana was born in Cardiff in Wales to parents of Rwandan origin, and lived in Banks, a village northeast of Southport.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the attack in the seaside resort near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.
Ten others were wounded, including eight children, in one of the country’s worst mass stabbings in decades. “This was an unspeakable attack — one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness,” Ursula Doyle, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said outside court.
“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,” she said. “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,” she added.
Rudakubana admitted a total of 16 charges, including the three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing a blade. He also admitted production of a biological toxin, ricin, as well as possessing an Al Qaeda training manual, although the attack has not been treated as a terror incident.
Wearing a grey tracksuit and a surgical mask, the teenager refused to stand in court and did not speak except to say the word “guilty” when the charges were put to him.
Concerns over violence
Adjourning the case for sentencing on Thursday, the judge warned Rudakubana that he faced a long custodial sentence.
Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency reported that although neighbours described him and his family as unremarkable, teachers had had concerns about his behaviour.
The teenager, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, was previously excluded from his school for an incident involving a hockey stick, the agency added.
Teachers at a specialist school he attended were also alarmed by his violence towards others, it said. Despite being aged 17 at the time of the murders, child protection restrictions over reporting Rudakubana’s name were lifted in August due to concerns over the spread of misinformation and his imminent 18th birthday.
Tributes
Taylor Swift, then in the middle of her Eras tour, wrote on Instagram that she “was completely in shock” after the attack on the dance class.
The pop star reportedly met two of the survivors of the attack during her August shows in London.
UK head of state King Charles III also travelled to Southport in August to meet survivors, inspecting a sea of floral tributes laid outside the city’s town hall. His elder son Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales also visited the town in October “to show support to the local community.”
The UK’s interior minister Yvette Cooper said before the guilty pleas the coming days “will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the families”. But she added it was important for the legal process to follow its course so that “justice can be done”. Police have previously warned against fuelling rumours by publicly speculating about any eventual motive. Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy urged people to be patient and “don’t believe everything you read on social media.”
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