Southport attack suspect remains silent in court facing terror charges
The teenager accused of stabbing three girls to death at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport remained silent and didn’t answer questions in court today.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been charged with possessing terrorist material and producing the highly toxic ricin which was found in his home.
The alleged terror offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual.
He was named as the suspect of the stabbings in August, in which eight other children and two adults were seriously injured.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were all killed in the attack on July 29.
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attacks, has been charged with their murders as well as the attempted murders of 10 others.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court via videolink from HMP Belmarsh on Wednesday morning for a hearing lasting less than 10 minutes, and sat holding his sweater over the bottom half of his face.
The 18-year-old faces the additional offences of 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 latest charges came after searches of Rudakubana’s home in Banks, Lancashire, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Stan Reiz KC, defending, said: ‘Mr Rudakubana has remained silent at previous hearings as well. For reasons of his own he has chosen not to answer the question.’
Addressing the defendant later in the hearing, the chief magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring, asked whether the teenager would nod to signal his understanding but he did not react.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC applied for the new charges to be sent to Liverpool Crown Court to ‘link up’ with the other charges Rudakubana faces relating to the July Southport incident.
She confirmed to the judge that the matters were ‘related’.
Searches were carried out in the days after the attack, although it was not confirmed when the ricin was found.
According to the charges, authorised by the CPS on Tuesday, the toxin was produced on or before July 29, and Rudakubana was charged with possessing the document between August 29, 2021 and July 30, 2024.
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: ‘The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised two further charges against Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 18, from Banks in Lancashire.
‘Axel Rudakubana already faces three charges of murder, 10 charges of attempted murder and one charge of possession of a knife – all relating to the incident at Hart Street, Southport on July 29, 2024.
‘The two further offences relate to evidence obtained by Merseyside Police during searches of Axel Rudakubana’s home address, as part of the lengthy and complex investigation that followed the events of July 29, 2024.’
Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, and had been living in the village of Banks, just outside Southport, at the time of the attack.
The family reportedly moved to the Southport area around 2013 and lived in a semi-detached property in a quiet cul-de-sac in Banks.
A local source said the alleged killer did not mix with others, that the family are unremarkable and there had been no sign of anything wrong.
Downing Street said Keir Starmer’s thoughts remain with the families of the Southport attack victims.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: ‘The government is focused on ensuring the families and all those affected receive justice, and first and foremost the prime minister’s thoughts are with those families and the local community. His thoughts remain firmly with them.’
Charging decisions are for the Crown Prosecution Service, she said, adding that the trial would ‘establish the facts of the case’.
Prosecutors and the Home Secretary have warned against public commentary which could prejudice the Southport case. A provisional trial date for Rudakubana has been set for January next year.
Criminal proceedings are subject to strict contempt of court laws designed to protect the right of any defendant to a fair trial.
The aim is to avoid the risk of potential jurors being influenced by material they see in the news or on social media when they come to try a case.
Jurors are routinely told to ignore any previous material they may have read about the case, and to consider the charges only on the information presented in court.
But with cases that provoke heated debate or strong feelings, it is common for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to remind the public about the law.
The CPS said: ‘Yesterday we announced further charges against Axel Rudakubana.
‘We want to remind people that criminal proceedings against Axel Rudakubana are active and therefore it is extremely important that there is no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
‘We are determined to deliver justice in this case.’
On Tuesday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also warned against public speculation over the case.
She said: ‘The most important thing is to get justice for Bebe (King), Alice (Dasilva Aguiar) and Elsie (Dot Stancombe) and their heartbroken families, and all those affected by the attack, and nobody should put that at risk.
‘The police and prosecutors have an important job to do in their investigation, pursuing every avenue and taking the action they need to ahead of the trial.
‘We must support them and ensure that everything possible is done to deliver justice.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.