Southport 'killer' appears in court charged with terror offence

The teenager accused of stabbing three schoolgirls to death in Southport has appeared in court this morning charged with a terror offence and making poison.

Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, is alleged to have made the deadly poison ricin and obtained a study of an Al-Qaeda terrorist manual at his Lancashire home.

The discovery was made as officers investigated the incident which saw three girls - Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine – stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in July.

The killings sparked large scale riots, fuelled by misinformation on social media in towns and cities across the UK.

Today the 18-year-old refused to answer questions and held a sweater over the bottom half of his face as he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court after being charged with offences under both the Biological Weapons and Terrorism Act.

He is accused of manufacturing the biological toxin ricin and having a study of a terrorist manual – namely Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual.

During the 10-minute hearing this morning the teenager, who appeared via video link from HMP Belmarsh, sat holding his sweater over the bottom half of his face. 

He did not respond when asked to confirm his name, and a security officer with him at the prison told the court he had chosen not to speak.

Stan Reiz KC, defending, said: 'Mr Rudakubana has remained silent at previous hearings as well.

'For reasons of his own he has chosen not to answer the question.'

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC made reference to the murder and attempted murder charges Axel Rudakubana also faces.

She told Westminster Magistrates' Court the 18-year-old is charged with 'offences committed in Southport in July'.

'He is currently facing proceedings in Liverpool Crown Court,' Ms Heer said.

'In respect of those matters, he is due to appear on November 13 for a plea trial and preparation hearing.

'And the Crown's application would be for both of those matters to be sent directly to Liverpool Crown Court to link up with those matters.'

The chief magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring, asked whether the matters were related. Ms Heer confirmed they are.

Judge Goldspring told the defendant: 'They are related in the sense that they come out of the same facts.'

He sent the case to Liverpool Crown Court where Axel Rudakubana will appear on November 13 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

The judge added: 'The prosecution will ask the judge to link up matters together.'

Mr Goldspring told Rudakubana he would further be remanded in custody on the new charges.

Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents before moving to Banks in Lancashire with his family, is also accused of three charges of murder ten counts of attempted murder and one of possessing a bladed article.

The teenager, who has been diagnosed with autism, is alleged to have murdered three girls attending the summer holiday club at the Hart Space Community Centre, in Southport, when they were stabbed on July 29. Eight other children and two adults were also seriously injured.

A plea hearing for those offences is set to take place next month, with a provisional trial date set for January next year. 

In a press conference yesterday Merseyside Police said that despite Rudakubana being charged with a terror offence, the Southport stabbings had not been declared a terrorist incident.

Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick said he was 'seriously concerned that facts may have been withheld from the public here'.

'The Government and authorities told us for months they were not treating this as a terrorist incident,' the former immigration minister said.

'This atrocity was of immense public concern. The public had a right to know the truth straight away.

'Any suggestion of a cover-up will permanently damage public trust in whether we're being told the truth about crime in our country.

'Keir Starmer must urgently explain to the country what he knew about the Southport attack and when he learned it.'

'Across the board the hard reality of mass migration is being covered up. We need the truth - and we need to change.'

Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and moved to the Southport area in 2013. He was living in Banks, Lancashire, at the time of the attack.

His rival, Kemi Badenoch, said there are 'serious questions to be asked' of the authorities.

She tweeted: 'After the Southport murders and the ensuing protests and riots, some people asked me why I wasn't commenting. This is why. Too many on all sides rush to conclusions before all the facts are clear.

'As more information emerges, it is quite clear that there are serious questions to be asked of the police, the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] and also of Keir Starmer's response to the whole situation. Parliament is the right place for this to happen.

'While we must abide by the rules of contempt of court and not prejudice this case it is important that there is appropriate scrutiny.'

Downing Street said the Prime Minister's thoughts remain with the families of the Southport attack victims.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: 'The Government is focused on ensuring the families and all those affected receive justice, and first and foremost the Prime Minister's thoughts are with those families and the local community. His thoughts remain firmly with them.'