A UK teenager has Admitted on Monday to the murder of three girls during a stabbing spree last year, which ignited the UK’s most violent riots in a decade.
On what was to be the opening day of his trial, 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana admitted to killing the three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, in northwest England.
The stabbings, which occurred in July, sent shockwaves across the nation, leading to unrest and riots in over a dozen towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland, including Southport and Liverpool.
Authorities attributed the violence to far-right agitators spreading misinformation, falsely claiming that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. However, it was later revealed that Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales, to parents of Rwandan descent and lived in Banks, a village near Southport.
The victims, Bebe King (six), Elsie Dot Stancombe (seven), and Alice da Silva Aguiar (nine), were tragically killed in the seaside resort near Liverpool on 29 July 2024. Ten others, including eight children, were injured in what became one of the UK’s most devastating mass stabbings in decades.
Rudakubana also admitted to producing the biological toxin ricin and possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual. Despite these admissions, the attack has not been classified as a terror-related incident.
Appearing in court dressed in a grey tracksuit and wearing a surgical mask, the teenager refused to stand and only spoke to say the word “guilty” when the charges were read to him.
The riots following the killings lasted nearly a week, with far-right groups targeting police, businesses, hotels housing asylum seekers, and mosques. Hundreds of individuals were arrested and charged in connection with the unrest.
The judge, adjourning the case for sentencing on Thursday, warned Rudakubana that he faced a lengthy prison term.
According to the Press Association, neighbours described Rudakubana and his family as ordinary, though teachers had raised concerns about his behaviour. Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the teenager had previously been excluded from school following an incident involving a hockey stick. Reports from a specialist school he attended detailed a history of violence towards others.
Although Rudakubana was 17 at the time of the murders, reporting restrictions on his identity were lifted in August due to the spread of misinformation and his approaching 18th birthday.
