Keir Starmer is set to deliver an urgent speech to the British public, where he acknowledges the failure of the state in the tragic events involving the victims from Southport. He emphasized that there are pressing inquiries that need to be addressed.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to speak to the nation on Tuesday morning following the government’s decision to launch an investigation into the oversight that led to the Southport killer not being identified as a threat.
Axel Rudakubana, who recently admitted to the murder of three girls during a dance class themed after Taylor Swift, had been reported to the anti-extremism programme Prevent on three separate occasions due to concerns about his obsession with violence.
But despite this and contact with other state agencies, the authorities failed to stop the attack which claimed the lives of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
The Prime Minister lashed out at the crimes committed by the ‘vile and sick’ teenager, who this morning pleaded guilty to slaughtering three young girls in Merseyside in July.
Sir Keir vowed to investigate what happened, saying: ‘Britain will rightly demand answers. And we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper tonight announced a public inquiry into Rudakubana’s murders that can ‘get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change’.
She said it was ‘essential’ there were answers about the ‘terrible’ Southport attack.
The Mail has learnt that authorities knew of Rudakubana’s disturbing interest in a school massacre as far back as 2019.
Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class
The Prime Minister will address the nation on Tuesday morning after the Government announced an inquiry
The Prime Minister lashed out at the crimes committed by the ‘vile and sick’ teenager and admitted the state had ‘failed in its ultimate duty’ to protect his victims
He was referred to the Government’s de-radicalisation scheme Prevent that year on the basis that he had been researching for information about the killing of children in school shootings.
It was reported he was also referred twice in 2021 after viewing material about the 2017 London terror attack.
But experts deemed that there was no counter-terrorism risk at the time as he was considered not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology.
Downing Street rejected claims there had been a ‘gigantic cover-up’ ahead of Rudakubana’s court case, amid allegations by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The PM’s spokesman told reporters it was important not to prejudice the trial, adding: ‘Clearly if the trial had collapsed and the attacker walked free, nobody would have forgiven that happening.’
Rudakubana pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court to the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
He admitted the attempted murders of eight other children – who cannot be named for legal reasons – as well as class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
He also pleaded guilty to having a kitchen knife in a public place and will be sentenced on Thursday.
In addition, he admitted to the production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, namely a PDF file titled ‘Military Studies in the Jihad against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual’.
Downing Street rejected claims that there had been a ‘gigantic cover-up’ ahead of the court case, amid allegations from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage
In a statement this afternoon, Sir Keir said: ‘The news that the vile and sick Southport killer will be convicted is welcome.
‘It is also a moment of trauma for the nation, and there are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls.
‘Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.’
As she announced a public inquiry, Ms Cooper confirmed Rudakubana has been referred to Prevent three times between December 2019 and April 2021, when he was aged 13 and 14.
She said: ‘He also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services.
‘Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed.’
The Home Secretary added: ‘Although, in line with Crown Prosecution Service advice to preserve the integrity of the prosecution, we were constrained in what we were able to say at the time, the Home Office commissioned an urgent Prevent Learning Review during the summer into the three referrals that took place and why they were closed.
‘We will publish further details this week, alongside new reforms to the Prevent programme.
‘But we also need more independent answers on both Prevent and all the other agencies that came into contact with this extremely violent teenager as well as answers on how he came to be so dangerous, including through a public inquiry that can get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change.’
Clacton MP Mr Farage, who is in Washington for Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President, earlier said his party would demand Ms Cooper explain to MPs why Rudakubana’s terror links were not revealed sooner.
‘I asked that question 24 hours after the murders. I said why are we not being told the truth? Was this man known to the authorities? We were met with a complete wall of silence,’ the Reform leader said.
‘The PM and the Home Secretary refused to engage, Liverpool police refused to engage.
‘There was nothing about what I asked that would have in any way threatened contempt of court. This is basic background information that the public was entitled to.
‘I was accused by mainstream media publications and senior politicians of stoking and encouraging the riots, when actually the riots were happening because of the vacuum of information and crazy conspiracy theories gaining traction online.’
He added: ‘I think that the Government are responsible for the most astonishing cover-up. I think that we need an apology from the Home Secretary and an explanation as to why we have been denied the basic truth.’
Asked if he would be raising this in the House of Commons, Mr Farage replied: ‘We will, as a party, table an urgent question on this. Absolutely.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper tonight announced a public inquiry into Rudakubana’s murders that can ‘get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change’
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, was one of the three children killed in the knife attack in Southport
Bebe King, six, was also killed in the knife attack at The Hart Space in Southport
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was among the three little girls killed in the attack in Southport
Rudakubana’s guilty plea is likely to raise pressure on Prevent to explain how he slipped through the cracks, engaging in a horrific crime and sparking a summer of violent, often racist, unrest across the UK, fuelled by online conspiracy theories
Mr Farage drew criticism from across the political spectrum for remarks he made in a video in the immediate aftermath of the Southport attack in which he questioned ‘whether the truth is being withheld from us’.
Conspiracy theories spiralled as the identity of the attacker was withheld. But he could not be named because of his age – there is automatic anonymity given to any person under 18 accused of a crime.
Rudakubana was 17-years-old at the time and could only be named after Judge Menary KC decided it was in the public interest to lift his anonymity order.
The judge blasted the ‘idiotic rioting’ in the UK after the attack and said keeping the order in place risked ‘allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum’.
Rudakubana’s guilty plea today is likely to raise pressure on Prevent to explain how he slipped through the cracks, engaging in a horrific crime and sparking a summer of violent and often racist unrest across the UK, fuelled by online conspiracy theories.
Officials were well aware that Rudakubana could pose a risk and he was referred three times to the government’s deradicalisation scheme Prevent, sources confirmed today.
One of the referrals is thought to follow concerns about Rudakubana’s potential interest in the killing of children in a school massacre, but it was deemed that there was no counter terrorism risk.
His behaviour, including his apparent interest in violence, was assessed by Prevent as potentially concerning.
But he was deemed not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology or pose a terrorist danger and was therefore not considered suitable for the counter-radicalisation scheme.
Rudakubana was first referred to Prevent in 2019 when he was 13. Two more referrals were made in 2021, all when was a school child living in Lancashire.
Each time he was assessed as not being a counter terrorism risk and therefore not suitable for further investigation by the counter-radicalisation programme Channel, which handles Prevent referrals where there is a significant risk of that person being drawn into terrorism.
Within hours of his attack in Southport, posts spread on the internet which claimed the suspect was a 17-year-old asylum seeker, who had come to the country by boat last year.
A court artist’s sketch of Rudakubana appearing at Liverpool Crown Court this morning
Musk, a close ally of Donald Trump (pictured together last night), branded the PM #TwoTierKeir, in reference to claims or allegations of ‘two tier policing’ in Britain complaining about harsh sentences handed out to those involved in the disorder fuelled by far-Right thugs
But Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and moved with his family to the village of Banks in Lancashire about a decade ago.
In the first press conference after the event, at 6.30pm that day, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told journalists the suspect was originally from Cardiff.
But, the police statement did little to quell the misinformation spreading online.
Police forces do not name suspects before they are charged and Rudakubana – still a youth at 17 – would remain anonymous even after he was charged because of his age.
A crowd gathered outside Southport mosque – which has no known links to Rudakubana – for a planned protest on the evening of July 30.
Shouts of ‘English ’til I die’ were heard and bricks broken off from garden walls were used as missiles.
Police officers initially seemed unprepared for the violence, without riot helmets or shields.
The following week, when the first prison sentences were handed out for those involved, Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC described a ‘mob’ using the ‘most foul and racist abuse’, smashing windows, hurling bricks and setting a police van alight.
He said: ‘This was large scale and very violent criminal activity made much worse by the fact that it was happening only a day after entirely different and utterly tragic events.
‘The genuine and collective grief of the residents of Southport was hijacked by this callous behaviour.’
Ms Kennedy said 93 officers were hurt, with injuries including fractured legs, knocked out teeth and a broken jaw.
On Wednesday morning, the clean up of Southport began, but by the evening violence had spread further afield – with demonstrations in London, Hartlepool in County Durham and Aldershot in Hampshire.
For the next week, as Rudakubana was charged, appeared before court and officially named, violent protests continued across the country.
Rioters smashed the windows of hotels in Rotherham and Tamworth, and set a library in Liverpool on fire.
The riots came barely an hour after thousands of mourners gathered for a vigil at the Atkinson in Southport
Mourners leave floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where the three children died and eight were injured in a ‘ferocious’ knife attack
The Government announced emergency security for mosques and Sir Keir promised those involved would ‘face the full force of the law’.
Prison sentences began to be handed out the following week and by mid-December more than 360 people had been jailed for their parts in the unrest across the country.
But that prompted an outcry from Elon Musk and other hard right figures. Musk, a close ally of Donald Trump, branded the PM #TwoTierKeir, in reference to claims or allegations of ‘two tier policing’ in Britain complaining about harsh sentences handed out to those involved in the disorder fuelled by far-right thugs.
On August 8, there were rumours online of 100 planned protests, with gatherings anticipated in 41 of the 43 police force areas in England and Wales.
Shops boarded up their windows to prevent windows being smashed.
But in most places, only peaceful anti-racism demonstrators gathered and fears of further violent disorder were quashed.
Neighbours around the family home in Lancashire described the family as unremarkable, but it can now be reported that teachers had concerns about his behaviour.
The teenager, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, is believed to have left Range High School in Formby in around 2019, before moving to a specialist school.
Teachers at the specialist school were concerned about his violence towards others, it is understood.
Billed as a stage school ‘superstar’ when he appeared as Doctor Who in a BBC Children in Need advert aged only 11, the first chilling warning that he posed a serious threat to other children took place just two years later.
Floral and written tributes are left alongside balloons and teddy bears at the scene of the stabbings on Hart Street, Southport
Floral tributes, balloons and soft toys covered the street near the police cordon
When he was about 13, a hooded Rudakubana burst into his school while barred from the premises for bringing in a knife, brandished a hockey stick he had produced from his backpack and began attacking pupils.
The raging future killer – dubbed a ‘ticking timebomb’ by one former fellow pupil – was only disarmed after being bravely overpowered by a teacher.
At the time of the hockey stick attack, Rudakubana – born in Cardiff to parents who moved to the UK from Rwanda – had been suspended for bringing a knife into Range High School in Formby, former classmates told the Mail.
Just as with his murderous assault on the Southport dance studio on July 29, he took advantage of doors being unlocked.
While it is understood that one boy suffered a broken wrist when he attacked classmates, it is not clear whether police were informed.
Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, was to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before noon on July 29.
The defendant admitted their murders as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, also admitted production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29 and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024.
The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the home in Old School Close which he shared with his parents, who are originally from Rwanda.
