Southport Killer — Why?
How Was This Tragedy Allowed to Happen
Not my usual thing but, I am just stunned to my core wondering how a teenager was able to reach the point where he viciously took the lives of three little children and injured others. Axel Rudakabana has to be the most evil individual I ever heard of in all my years looking at true crime.
Evil Axel Rudakubana even told the judge “I am glad the kids are dead”
Let’s look at some of the evidence of this heartbreaking case.
On July 29th 2024, this crazed individual took a taxi booked under the name ‘Simon’ to Hart Street in the Meols Cop area of Southport and asked the driver to direct him to number 34a. Rudakabana left the taxi without paying and walked along the alleyway towards Hart Space Studio. He then burst into the dance studio in Southport, Lancashire, UK where he attacked a group of children and their teachers. Two children died at the scene and one died the next day in hospital, they had all suffered multiple stab wounds from a kitchen knife. It seems that the children were not known to their attacker.
18-year-old Rudakubana had been under the care and supervision of mental health services with the English National Health Service at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust for some four years between 2019 and 2023 before he “stopped engaging”. Whilst I understand that medical practitioners cannot force someone to engage, surely, knowing the level of danger Rudakubana posed they could have insisted that he be held in a secure unit.
This crazed killer was originally referred to Alder Hey’s mental health team after he took a sharp knife to school with him at Range High School in Formby, Merseyside. When questioned he told staff at the school he intended “To use it”.
The three sweet angels — Elsie 7, Bebe 6 and Alice 9 who were cruelly murdered by evil Rudakubana
Having been arrested at the scene and interviewed by the police he was charged with 3 counts of murder, the attempted murder of 10 others (eight children and two adults) and possession of a bladed article. There seems to be no explanation for his actions except that he was very mentally out of control.
There have been suggestions that the 17-year-old may have been involved in terrorism as he was later charged with possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual and production of a dangerous biological weapon, Ricin. We will never know whether he intended to go on and use the dangerous chemicals.
On January 20th 2025, having appeared in court for the start of his trial, Rudakabana pleaded guilty to all charges including additional charges in connection with the Ricin. This hazardous toxin can cause multiple deaths and has no known antidote, under section 1 of the Biological Weapons Act 1974, a PDF document file entitled ‘Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants & possession of The Al-Qaeda Training Manual, of a Kind likely to be useful to a person committing, or preparing, an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Since the guilty pleas were entered it has been discovered that Rudakabana had a long history of violent and concerning behaviour and had been referred on three separate occasions between 2019 and 2021 to the anti-extremist programme, Prevent. It seems that he was not accepted to join the programme as no beliefs or terrorist ideologies were recognised.
What is Terrorist Ideology?
A terrorist ‘ideology’ is a set of beliefs, principles, and objectives to which an individual or group purports to adhere and attempts to instil in others to radicalise them towards becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. There are several concepts or ‘tools’ that often feature in terrorist and extremist ideologies, including narrative, propaganda, grievances, and conspiracy theories.
One of thousands of tributes keft to the murdered children
The families of Rudakabana’s victims have since expressed their shock and sorrow at how so many opportunities to stop the killer before he got as far as he did were missed.
Sara Stanger, solicitor for the families told the BBC in a breakfast programme interview that the parents of Elsie Stancombe, aged 7, Bebe King, aged 6, and Alice da Silva Aguiar aged 9 were “relieved” that the criminal case is now over and glad that a public inquiry is to be held.
On January 23rd 2025, Axel Rudakabana was convicted of the murder of Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. Along with those most serious charges were all the other charges previously mentioned. He was sentenced to 13 life terms of life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 52 years to serve. the sentencing judge Mr Justice Goose said in his closing comments “It is unlikely Mr Rudakabana will ever be released.
In his sentencing notes Mr Justice Goose said “During this sentence hearing Axel Rudakubana was determined to disrupt the proceedings so that he would not have to face the victims of his crimes and justice. I was required to have him removed from court, not because that is what he wanted, but because he was preventing the hearing from being held in the normal way”.
The judge goes on to say “I am sure that Rudakubana had a settled and determined intention to carry out these offences, and that had he been able to, he would have killed every child, all 26 of them, as well as any adults who got in his way”. “It was only because some managed to escape, that prevented many more from being murdered. I am also sure that after the other children, eight of whom he had very seriously injured, managed to escape, it left him in the upstairs room and landing, where he returned to continue his sustained and brutal violence against two of the youngest of those children, stabbing them multiple times. That demonstrated how determined you were to cause the maximum suffering you could”.
Mr Justice Goose also said that he felt despite counsel for the prosecution saying that they could not prove Rudakubana had intended acts of terrorism he could not even relate to the level of such horrendous violence used.
Judge Goose remarks — The prosecution has made it clear that these proceedings were not acts of terrorism within the meaning of the terrorism legislation because there is no evidence that Rudakubana’s purpose was to advance a political, religious, racial or ideological cause. I must accept that conclusion. However, in my judgment, his culpability for this extreme level of violence is equivalent in its seriousness to terrorist murders, whatever his purpose. Whether his motivation was for terrorism or not misses the point. What he did on the 29th of July last year has caused such shock and revulsion to the whole nation, that it must be viewed as being at the extreme level of crime. His culpability, and the harm he caused and intended, were at the highest”.
Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer lays floral tributes to the Southport victims
There were impact statements from the families of Alice and Elsie read out in the court when Rudakubana was sentenced.
The family of Elsie Dot Stancombe addressed Rudakubana directly in theirs:
“The nature of your actions is beyond contempt. You deliberately chose that place, fully aware that there would be no parents present, fully aware that those girls were vulnerable and unable to protect themselves”.
“This was not an act of impulse; it was premeditated. You chose that place, that time, and those circumstances, knowing that when we arrived, all we would see was the aftermath of the devastation caused. We were robbed of the opportunity to protect our girls.
“Though you have stolen our daughter from us, you will not take away our determination to honour her memory. We will carry her love, positivity and legacy forward, no matter how much pain you have caused.
I am going to leave this here for now, I may revisit the case as time passes, I do hope you will Buy Me a Coffee and I’ll see you soon
If you’d like to write to me about this case or any other please email me:
Lolly-truecrime@protonmail.com
or
Coldcaseinvestigations@proton.me
