Child killer Axel Rudakubana had enough ricin to kill 12,000 people
Child killer Axel Rudakubana had enough ricin to kill more than 12,000 people. The 18-year-old was recently locked up for life, with a minimum term of 52 years.
He was jailed for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. The murderer also tried to kill another 10 people.
Along with these charges, Rudakubana admitted possession of a knife, having the poison ricin and an al-Qaida manual. He had been set to face trial but unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty last week.
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According to experts, the quantity of the biological toxin ricin found in his home would have been enough to kill up to 12,690 people. They could have died through inhalation after a 'further purification process', Express reports.
It also had the potential to produce up to five lethal doses via ingestion or to kill between 1,500 and 7,600 via injection. The poison was found in a Tupperware box underneath his bed.
Investigators initially were not sure what the substance was, but experts later confirmed it to be ricin. It is a potentially fatal toxin produced using castor beans, 150 of which he had purchased online in 2022.
Around the same time, Rudakubana bought a pestle and mortar, two funnels, and a scientific flask from Amazon. These were seized from his bedroom, along with a machete and arrows.
Other items found in his home included a knife identical to the one used during his attack in Southport. It was in the room where Rudakubana was said to have been sleeping at the time.
Two tablet computers were also seized, which were found to contain materials including a PDF file entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual". This 'contained advice and instruction on committing acts of terror'.
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court: "The material found on these devices provides, the prosecution suggests, a window into the defendant’s mind at this time. It shows that he was fascinated with violence of an extreme nature, that he had obtained information on killings and how to kill and obtained weapons capable of killing.
"The evidence demonstrates that the stabbings on that day were premeditated and had been planned by the defendant for several weeks."