Axel Rudakubana due to face 2027 trial over alleged Belmarsh attacks
Axel Rudakubana is due to face trial in 2027 over allegations that he attacked prison officers at HMP Belmarsh, including throwing boiling water mixed with sugar at one of them.
Rudakubana, 20, appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink on Monday, 19 October. He spoke only to confirm his name and was not asked to enter pleas.
He is charged with attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to a prison officer, two assaults on emergency workers and possessing an offensive weapon in prison. The charges relate to separate incidents at Belmarsh, in south London, during 2025.
The court heard that Rudakubana allegedly threw hot water through the hatch in his cell door on 8 May. Two days earlier, on 6 May, he allegedly threatened to “soak” a female officer outside his cell if she did not pass him a newspaper, before throwing liquid at her.
He is also accused of punching a male officer on 28 October. The weapon charge relates to sharpened stone shards which prosecutors say appeared to have been prised from the floor of his cell.
A preliminary hearing has been listed for 5 February 2027, with a provisional trial date of 8 October 2027.
Rudakubana is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. He also admitted attempting to murder eight other children and two adults during the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024.
He was moved from Belmarsh to Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital in July 2026 after a clinical assessment concluded he could not be safely managed in prison.
