Axel Rudakubana admits murdering three girls in knife attack at Taylor Swift dance class

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, had previously refused to enter a plea or even speak during a court appearance in December.

But on the first day of his trial today, Rudakubana finally spoke when he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and the attempted murder of eight other children as well as two adults – Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack in The Hart Space in the Merseyside town before midday on July 29.

The other children cannot be named for legal reasons.

With the trial not expected to get going until Tuesday, the victims’ families were not present when Rudakuba entered his pleas with his head down towards his knees the entire time.

Extending his apologies to the families, Mr Justice Goose said: ‘I am conscious of the fact the families are not here today.’

Cardiff-born Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to possession of a kitchen knife in a public place.

A search of his house uncovered the poison ricin, as well as a PDF file titled Military Studies in the Jihad against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual, which he is said to have possessed since August 29, 2021.

For these he was charged with producing a biological toxin and possession of a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, admitted those charges too. He will be sentenced on Thursday.

He initially wasn’t named after the attack because he was 17 at the time.

Concerns raised about violent behaviour

Born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff, Rudakubana moved to the village of Banks, outside Southport, around 2013.

There they lived in a mid-terrace house on a quiet cul-de-sac, where neighbours described the family as unremarkable, with the now-18-year-old having sung in the local church choir.

But teachers had concerns about Rudakubana’s violent behaviour at school.

He was excluded from Range High School in Formby around 2019 after an incident involving a hockey stick, PA news agency reports.

Rudakubana was then moved to a special school, where teachers reportedly had concerns about his behaviour and violence towards others.

Three times, Rudakubana was referred to the government’s counter-terrorism scheme, Prevent, The Guardian reports.

He was first referred in 2019, when he was 13 years old. He was referred two more times in 2021.

One referral related to his potential interest in killing children in a school massacre.

But Prevent deemed Rudakubana to be unsuitable for its counter-radicalisation scheme because he was not to be motivated and it did not consider him to pose a terrorist danger, The Guardian reports.

Police investigating Rudakubana’s knife attack in Southport said there was no evidence he was motivated by terrorism, and did not declare the attack to be a terrorist incident.

After Rudakubana was charged with a terror offence relating to possession of an Al Qaeda manual, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: ‘The method by which Axel Rudakubana has been charged under the terror act does not require motive to be established.’

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