Southport ‘killer’ seems in court docket charged with terror offence and making ricin: Stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, ‘had Al-Qaeda materials and produced lethal poison’
The teenager accused of stabbing three schoolgirls to death in Southport has appeared in court this morning charged with a terror offence and making poison.
An Al-Qaeda terrorist manual is alleged to have been found at the Lancashire home of Axel Rudakubana by police, as well as the deadly poison ricin.
The discovery was made as officers investigated the incident which saw three girls – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine – stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in July.
The killings sparked large scale riots, fuelled by misinformation on social media in towns and cities across the UK.
Today the 18-year-old remained silent and refused to answer questions as he appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being charged with offences under both the Biological Weapons and Terrorism Act.
These are the manufacture of the biological toxin ricin and having a study of a terrorist manual – namely Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual.
Axel Rudakubana appeared in court this morning accused of producing ricin and having a terrorist training manual. Pictured: Rudakubana wearing a school uniform in a picture taken several years ago
Pictured: A court sketch of Axel Rudakubana holding his head in his hands at a previous court appearance in Liverpool on August 1 this year
Pictured: Police stand at a cordon in Old School Close, Banks, Lancashire, in August this year as the home of Axel Rudakubana is searched
In court this morning the teenager, who appeared via video link from HMP Belmarsh, sat holding his sweater over the bottom half of his face.
He did not respond when asked to confirm his name, and a security officer with him at the prison told the court he had chosen not to speak.
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.’
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC made reference to the murder and attempted murder charges Axel Rudakubana also faces.
She told Westminster Magistrates’ Court the 18-year-old is charged with ‘offences committed in Southport in July’.
‘He is currently facing proceedings in Liverpool Crown Court,’ Ms Heer said.
‘In respect of those matters, he is due to appear on November 13 for a plea trial and preparation hearing.
‘And the Crown’s application would be for both of those matters to be sent directly to Liverpool Crown Court to link up with those matters.’
The chief magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring, asked whether the matters were related. Ms Heer confirmed they are.
Judge Goldspring told the defendant: ‘They are related in the sense that they come out of the same facts.’
He sent the case to Liverpool Crown Court where Axel Rudakubana will appear on November 13 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
The judge added: ‘The prosecution will ask the judge to link up matters together.’
Mr Goldspring told Rudakubana he would further be remanded in custody on the new charges.
Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents before moving to Banks in Lancashire with his family, is also accused of three charges of murder ten counts of attempted murder and one of possessing a bladed article.
The teenager, who has been diagnosed with autism, is alleged to have murdered three girls attending the summer holiday club at the Hart Space Community Centre, in Southport, when they were stabbed on July 29. Eight other children and two adults were also seriously injured.
A plea hearing for those offences is set to take place next month, with a provisional trial date set for January next year.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, one of the three children killed in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school in Southport
Bebe King, six, was also fatally stabbed at the holiday camp in Southport on July 29
Silva Aguiar, 9, also died in the attack after she was fatally stabbed at the dance club
In a press conference yesterday Merseyside Police said that despite Rudakubana being charged with a terror offence, the Southport stabbings had not been declared a terrorist incident.
Speaking yesterday, Serena Kennedy, Chief Constable of the force, msaid: ‘At this time counter terror policing have not declared the events of July 29 a terrorist incident,’ she said. ‘I recognise these new charges may lead to speculation.
‘The method by which Axel Rudakubana has been charged under the Terror Act does not require motive to be established.’
She urged people against speculating about Rudakubana’s motive online and on social media, adding that the suspect had a ‘right to a fair trial.’
Ms Kennedy insisted that speculation online that police were ‘keeping things from the public’ was ‘not the case.’
She added: ‘My plea is to be patient, don’t engage in rumour and speculation and don’t believe everything you read on social media.
‘We must not lose sight of the families of Elsie, Bebe, and Alice, who are still grieving, and the families of those children and adults who were injured and affected by what happened on that day.
‘We all need to do the right thing by them to ensure the justice process is not prejudiced.’
But Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick said he was ‘seriously concerned that facts may have been withheld from the public here’.
‘The Government and authorities told us for months they were not treating this as a terrorist incident,’ the former immigration minister said.
Residents look at floral tributes for the victims of a deadly knife attack in Southport on July 31
Floral tributes were left for the victims of the deadly knife attack in Southport
Flowers and tributes outside the Atkinson Art Centre Southport ahead of the visit by King Charles III in July
‘This atrocity was of immense public concern. The public had a right to know the truth straight away.
‘Any suggestion of a cover-up will permanently damage public trust in whether we’re being told the truth about crime in our country.
‘Keir Starmer must urgently explain to the country what he knew about the Southport attack and when he learned it.’
‘Across the board the hard reality of mass migration is being covered up. We need the truth – and we need to change.’
Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and moved to the Southport area in 2013. He was living in Banks, Lancashire, at the time of the attack.
His rival, Kemi Badenoch, said there are ‘serious questions to be asked’ of the authorities.
She tweeted: ‘After the Southport murders and the ensuing protests and riots, some people asked me why I wasn’t commenting. This is why. Too many on all sides rush to conclusions before all the facts are clear.
‘As more information emerges, it is quite clear that there are serious questions to be asked of the police, the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] and also of Keir Starmer’s response to the whole situation. Parliament is the right place for this to happen.
‘While we must abide by the rules of contempt of court and not prejudice this case it is important that there is appropriate scrutiny.’
Downing Street said the Prime Minister’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.’
