Southport stabbing attacker pleads guilty to murdering three girls at Taylor Swift-themed holiday class

A teenager has admitted to murdering three children in a horrifying mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport which sparked widespread riots. Axel Rudakubana , aged 18, also pleaded guilty to 10 charges of attempted murder following the frenzied knife attack which shocked the nation in summer last year, as well as producing the deadly poison ricin and possession of an al-Qaeda training manual. He had been due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, having denied the charges last year, but dramatically changed his plea on the first day of the trial.

Six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe were killed in the attack on 29 July 2024, while nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar died from her injuries in hospital afterwards. A further five children and two adults were rushed to a hospital in a critical condition with knife injuries after he ambushed the children’s holiday class at the Hart Space in Southport, where girls were due to have a fun morning of making bracelets, dancing to Taylor Swift and yoga. The tragic attack sparked a string of far-right riots across the country after misinformation spread about the killer’s identity.



Rudakubana, who was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff before his family moved to Banks, Lancashire, was 17 at the time of the incident. The recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC overturned reporting restrictions preventing him from being named due to his age at a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court in August, noting that maintaining reporting restrictions risked misinformation continuing to be spread “in a vacuum”. Judge Julian Goose said he would sentence Rudakubana on Thursday.

The judge told Rudakubana it was inevitable that a life sentence equivalent would be imposed upon him. The teenager, wearing a surgical mask, remained seated in the dock as he entered guilty pleas, refusing to stand when asked to by the court clerk and judge after entering court. He did not reply when asked to confirm his name.

Stan Reiz KC, defending, approached the dock to speak to the defendant and Rudakubana nodded in response to him. Mr Reiz confirmed there was no dispute that the defendant was Rudakubana and he could hear what was being said. It can now be reported that Rudakubana’s teachers had concerns about his behaviour, and he was excluded from his secondary school for an incident involving a hockey stick.

The teenager, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, is believed to have left Range High School in Formby in around 2019, before moving to a specialist school, where teachers were reported to be concerned at his violence towards others. At his first appearance at Liverpool Crown Court, Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said it was understood Rudakubana had been unwilling to leave the house and communicate with his family for a period of time. While he was seen by the psychiatrists at the police station, he refused to engage with them, Ms Heer told the court, which heard that Rudakubana had no obvious evidence of mental health disorder which required diversion to hospital.

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