Southport child-killer’s violent past outlined in court before sentencing
Judge Mr Justice Goose ordered Axel Rudakubana to be removed from the dock shortly after the start of the sentencing hearing.
Southport child-killer Axel Rudakubana was referred to Prevent for researching American school shootings, the London Bridge terror attack and uploading pictures of Colonel Gaddafi to Instagram, a court heard.
Details of the 18-year-old’s background were read out by prosecutors at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, including an incident in October 2019 in which he contacted Childline and asked: “What should I do if I want to kill somebody?”
Rudakubana was also reported missing in March 2022 before he was found by police in possession of a small kitchen knife.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told the court that the defendant had said he “wanted to stab someone” so he could get his TikTok account taken down as it contained “embarrassing videos that he was unable to delete”.
The court has heard horrific details of the “sadistic” murders carried out by Rudakubana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Hart Space on a small business park in Southport shortly before midday on July 29 last year.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died in the attack, and Rudakubana also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Ms Lucas read a victim impact statement to the court on Thursday in which she said: “I cannot give myself compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died.”
She concluded her statement by saying: “He targeted us because we were women and girls, vulnerable and easy prey.
“To discover that he had always set out to hurt the vulnerable is beyond comprehensible.
“For Alice, Elsie, Bebe… and the surviving girls, I’m surviving for you.”
In her opening of the case, Ms Heer told the court: “On October 4, 2019, he contacted Childline and asked, ‘What should I do if I want to kill somebody?’.
“In the days that followed, he explained that he hated someone at school who bullied him.
“He felt angry and wanted to kill them. He said he had taken a knife to school but would only use it if the person really annoyed him.”
Addressing the March 2022 incident, Ms Heer continued: “He said that he wanted to stab someone so that he would get into trouble and his TikTok account, which contained embarrassing videos that he was unable to delete, would be closed down by the police.
“He said he had also thought about poisoning people and/or had tried to make poison for the same reason.”
Ms Heer also briefly outlined the three referrals that were made to prevent in November 2019, February 2021 and April 2021.
The court was told Rudakubana researched American school shootings during an IT class, which prompted the first referral.
The second and third referrals were for uploading pictures of Colonel Gaddafi to Instagram, and because he was found to have researched the London Bridge terror attack.
Rudakubana’s previous convictions for assault, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article were also briefly outlined in court.
The prosecutor said on December 11 2019, the defendant booked a taxi to take him to The Range High School, where he used a hockey stick to attack another pupil.
When the police were called, a kitchen knife was found in his backpack.
He was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, the offences and a referral order was imposed.
Mr Justice Goose ordered Rudakubana to be removed from the dock shortly after the start of the sentencing hearing because he had been repeatedly shouting.
One family member shouted “coward”, while others shook their heads as he left.
Horrific CCTV was played to the court including footage showing one child trying to leave the building but being pulled back in.
Gasps and sobs were heard from the public gallery as the girl was seen to re-emerge and collapse on the floor outside.
One woman in the public gallery put her hand over her face and sobbed, being comforted by those sitting next to her, as the video was played.
Family members were given the option to leave court before CCTV was played, but all remained in the court.
More than 30 members of the victims’ families were in the public gallery of the court for the sentencing and the court heard there were others in an annexe.
