Axel Rudakubana covers his face and remains silent as he appears in court

Axel Rudakubana covered his face and remained silent as he appeared in court charged with murder in relation to the Southport stabbings. The 18-year-old, of Banks in West Lancashire, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court this afternoon, Wednesday, November 13, via video link to HMP Belmarsh.

He is accused of murdering six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, who were killed during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at the Hart Space in the town on July 29 this year. Rudakubana, from Banks, is further charged with attempting to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and two adults, Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, who were also stabbed during the incident.

The teenager also faces a count of possession of a bladed article in a public place, namely a kitchen knife with a curved blade. He was charged with additional offences of production of a biological toxin, namely ricin, and possession of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, namely a PDF file entitled "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual", last month.

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Wearing a grey prison issue tracksuit, the jumper of which he used to cover his face throughout the hearing, Rudakubana did not speak when twice asked to confirm his identity. Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, told the court: "As far as the identification of the defendant is concerned, he has taken the position he has on every occasion he has appeared so far."

Carmel Wilde, defending, instead confirmed his identity on his behalf. Rudakubana was due to be arraigned today but was not ultimately asked to enter any pleas.

This will instead take place on December 12, and he was remanded into custody by Mr Justice Goose ahead of a four to six-week trial which is scheduled for January 20 next year. The judge asked him to raise his hand to indicate that he was able to hear at the conclusion of his court appearance, but he again failed to do so.

Merseyside Police's Chief Constable Serena Kennedy previously told a press conference that the further charges laid on October 29 related to evidence obtained following searches of his home address on Old School Close. However, Counter Terrorism Policing have not declared the mass stabbing a terrorist incident.

Chief Constable Kennedy said of this: "The matter of which Axel Rudakubana has been charged under the Terrorism Act does not require motive to be established. For a matter to be declared as a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established."

Rudakubana has so made three previous court appearances before Liverpool Magistrates' Court, Liverpool Crown Court and Westminster Magistrates' Court. He did not speak to confirm his identity during any of these hearings.