Statements from Merseyside Police, Counter Terrorism Policing and Lancashire Child Safeguarding Partnership
Today Axel Rudakubana has pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Silva Aguiar, the attempted murders of eight children and two adults; possession of a bladed article in a public place; production of a biological toxin namely ricin, contrary to Section 1 of the Biological Weapons Act 1974; possession of information, namely a PDF file entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual” of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing, or preparing, an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Following the court proceedings Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, said: “Our thoughts today are with the families of Bebe, Elsie, and Alice and the children and adults who were injured and seriously traumatised. For the last few weeks the families have been preparing themselves for a full trial and we can only imagine how difficult that will have been for them. The saving grace from what has happened at court today is that they will not have to listen to extensive and traumatic evidence, which would have only brought back the horror of what they went through on Monday 29 July 2024 and will live with for the rest of their lives.
On that sunny day those gorgeous little girls and their loving families were obliviously unaware of what Axel Rudakubana had planned, they were enjoying a lovely morning, when he struck and ruined the lives of 29 families forever.
“The investigation team has worked solidly to build up a strong evidential case to provide to the CPS and although we will never know why he did it. What we can say is that he was a man with a unhealthy obsession with extreme violence. We know that he had researched numerous documents online which show that obsession. What we can say is that from all those documents no one ideology was uncovered, and that is why this was not treated as terrorism.
"During the investigation the team carried out extensive and thorough inquiries and during that time:
• Processed 1655 documents were received and processed through Major Incident Team
• Interviewed 547 witnesses including 19 doctors/consultants; 62 North West Ambulance Service personnel and, 10 Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service fire AND rescue officers
• Obtained 405 statements
• Examined 80 pieces of CCTV footage
• Seized 43 devices of which 32 were suitable for download
• Reviewed 159,166 messages
• Recovered 164,394 documents from digital devices
• Recovered a total of 1244 exhibits
“There is no doubt in my mind that Merseyside Police has conducted a thorough and extensive investigation focussed on bringing justice for the families. We have been accused of purposely withholding information, this is absolutely not the case.
“From day one we have been as open as we possibly could and have constantly been in touch with the CPS who have advised us on what information could be released. We have wanted to say much more to show we were being open and transparent, but we have been advised throughout that we couldn’t do so as it would risk justice being delivered.
“We know from our investigation that Axel Rudakubana was known to a range of services prior to the incident in Southport. The Lancashire Child Safeguarding Partnership has commissioned an independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review to look at the roles of all the agencies involved with Axel Rudakubana, their interaction with him and his family and to identify if there is any learning which could assist the collective safeguarding practice.
“Merseyside Police is committed to working with our partners to understand the learning from this case.”
Counter Terrorism Policing
Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Matt Jukes, said: “Across Counter Terrorism Policing, the families devastated by Axel Rudakubana’s actions are in our thoughts today.
“Since the 29th July, our focus has been to support Merseyside Police in their investigation, and secure justice for the victims and their loved ones.
“Throughout this complex and large-scale investigation, we have been relentless in our pursuit of evidence as to why he attacked defenceless children on that day.
“This has included specialist support in forensic examinations of his home address and digital devices, with witness interviews and intelligence gathering.
“Despite that we have not been able to identify why he carried out these attacks.
“Our work with Merseyside Police has uncovered a wide interest in conflict, violence, genocide, and terrorism, and that he had accessed a wide range of online material related to these topics.
“We also know that he had contact with a range of services, and that includes the counter terrorism Prevent system.
“We can now confirm today that a total of three referrals were made by education providers to the Prevent scheme between December 2019 and April 2021.
“Information about these referrals have not been withheld due to any lack of candour.
“We have taken advice from the Crown Prosecution Service on what information could be released and when, so as not to risk justice being delivered.
“Now that Rudakubana has pleaded guilty, it is our commitment to share the details of these referrals and how they were responded to, alongside the examination of his contact with other agencies.
“The same determination we have shown in the investigation will now be applied to examining how the range of agencies involved with Rudakubana did not come together effectively to identify and deal with the risk he posed.
“We will be open and determined in pursuing the questions raised by this tragic case, incorporating insights from our wider work”.
Lancashire Child Safeguarding Partnership
In a statement Lancashire Child Safeguarding Partnership said: “Our thoughts are very much with the families of the young girls who were murdered and all those who were injured or affected by this terrible tragedy.
“Axel Rudakubana became known to a range of services in 2019 initially due to experiencing increasing anxiety and social isolation and latterly due to the development of some challenging behaviours.
“In October 2019 Axel Rudakubana took a knife into school which he did not use, although he did physically assault a child with a hockey stick in December 2019. Following the first incident the following agencies became involved.
• Lancashire Constabulary had several interactions with Axel between October 2019 and May 2022, which included responding to five calls from Rudakubana’s home address relating to concerns about his behaviour. On each occasion, officers made Vulnerable Child Referrals to the MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub)
• Children's Social Care undertook an initial assessment and identified social work support was not required but Early Help was
• Early Help supported Axel and his family around his emotional wellbeing and behaviours. On a separate occasion a carers assessment was undertaken, also resulting in support from Early Help
• He was also referred to the youth justice service due to the incident above.
• He was having an autism spectrum disorder assessment which led to him receiving an education and health care plan.
• Education services were liaising closely with schools to enable Axel to receive education from an appropriate setting.
• He remained open to Child Adolescent Mental Health Services, although he had stopped engaging with the service prior to the incident in February 2023.
• Referrals were made to Prevent from agencies.
“Axel Rudakubana completed the Youth Justice referral order in 2021 having fully engaged.
“Over the last two years Axel Rudakubana continued to face challenges related to his emotional and behavioural wellbeing, social interactions, and education.
"As a result, he received SEND services and Early Help. His family received ongoing support from CAMHS.
“Axel Rudakubana struggled to re-integrate into school following his exclusion. This was exacerbated by the pandemic and as a result, his attendance was limited. CAMH's noted that at this time he was experiencing anxiety which prevented him from leaving his home.
“Despite efforts of professionals to engage Axel Rudakubana, participation and engagement remained a challenge.
“The Partnership has commissioned an independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review to look at the roles of all the agencies involved with Axel Rudakubana, interaction with him and his family and if any learning could aid our collective safeguarding practice.
“The review will be a thorough process and is being led by three reviewers who have the required expertise to look at all aspects of this case.”