In July of last year, Alice da Silva Aguiar (9), Bebe King (6), and Elsie Stancombe (7) were brutally stabbed to death — one of whom was nearly decapitated — at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the English coastal town of Southport by 17-year-old Rwandan-heritage Axel Rudakubana. Eight other children and two adults were injured during the heinous attack.
The attack sparked a wave of anti-mass migration protests and riots across the UK and accusations against the government of having covered up key details about the case, such as his migration background and apparent interest in Islamist terrorism.
A public inquiry concerning Rudakubana’s background and the failures of authorities to prevent the murders began this week at Liverpool Town Hall, led by Nicholas Moss KC, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Despite Rudakubana having been found to have possessed terrorist material, assaulted other children, attacked his own father, and having been caught with knives on multiple occasions in the five years leading up to the attack, the response from authorities was characterised by inaction.
The inquiry heard that Rudakubana failed to attend school for multiple years, starting in December 2019, and that teachers attempted to check in on him, but were hindered by bureaucratic inertia. Despite this, police and social services refused requests by teachers to perform a wellness check on him. One teacher remarked: “The red tape is frightening…short of breaking in I don’t know how to see this kid.”
Another teacher is reported to have said during the time: “I am concerned as I think he may not be active, but he could easily be radicalised and would be a huge risk if this happened – the risk would be very real of harm to others.”
This came after Rudakubana began posting social media content about former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. This prompted a second referral to the government’s Prevent anti-terror programme for minors. After the attack, police discovered a picture of ISIS terrorist Jihadi John on his tablet, as well as graphic images from Nazi Germany. He was also found with an Al Qaeda training manual and the deadly toxin ricin.
However, police claimed that the attack was not motivated by terrorist ideology and to this day that remains the official version of events.
Even before leaving school, there were warning signs, with the younger Rudakubana making comments surrounding Jihad and the Manchester Arena bombing. The hearing also heard that in October of 2019, he proclaimed, “that’s why teachers get murdered”, after he was given detention for hitting another student.
That same month, the child counselling service Childline informed his school that he admitted to carrying knives to school on at least 10 different occasions, and that he once brought a knife to school because he “wanted to kill a bully”, for which he was suspended.
Rudakubana was referred to the Prevent programme three times between 2019 and 2021, including for comments made at school, as well as for internet searches on topics such as terrorism and school shootings. Despite this, MI5 and other counter terrorism officers dismissed him as a threat due to a lack of “terrorist or domestic extremist ideology”.
At the same time, multiple social services cases were opened on Rudakubana, yet they were all closed without any firm action.
In addition to the failures of the government, the families of the Southport victims claimed that Rudakubana’s family, who migrated to Britain from Rwanda, “knew and ignored the risk he posed to the public”.
Two months after being expelled from the Range High School in October of 2019, Rudakubana returned to the school with a knife and a hockey stick to attack an alleged bully. He said that he planned to “finish him off” and that he brought the knife to “use it”, according to Sky News.
Yet, when Rudakubana’s father, Alphonse, was brought to the school to discuss the matter, the headteacher said that he “appeared calm and failed to appreciate the gravity of the incident”.
The inquiry also heard that Rudakubana had attacked his father on multiple occasions, the BBC reported. The year before the attack in Southport, Rudakubana used a fake ID to purchase machetes on the internet, one of which was signed for by his father, who hid it on top of a wardrobe. Rudakubana threatened him with a knife to tell him where the weapon was.
Days before the attack the following year, his father also discovered chemicals and a bow and arrow in his son’s room. Despite this and the knowledge of their son’s history of violence, the family failed to contact the police or any other authority.
The inquiry continues…
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