MoJ responds to reports Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was 'attacked in his cell' by fellow prisoners
The Ministry of Justice has responded to reports that Southport child killer Axel Rudakubana has been attacked in his prison cell by fellow inmates.
The 18-year-old, from Banks, is currently isolated in a segregation unit at HMP Belmarsh amid concerns for his safety, as it's believed he would be targeted for retribution by other inmates due to the horrific nature of his crimes against young girls. The audio recording suggested that two inmates were allowed into Rudakubana's cell, where they carried out an attack on the teenager.
However, the Mirror understands the claims are "completely untrue" and have been circulated online by "people with an agenda". The audio recording was posted on X by an anti-immigration account.
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In the clip, the man is heard saying: "Two lads here in for murder doing a 35 [year sentence]. They just got let into that little b*****d's [...].
"The child killer's cell. [...] And absolutely smashed him to pieces. And I said to my pal, 'Jimmy is this true?'
"And he went 100 per cent true. 100 per cent."
The man goes on to suggest that the prison guards had allowed the two killers, "two lunatics", into his cell to carry out the attack. The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the claims made in the audio recording are completely false.
Earlier, a former inmate said Rudakubana will be targeted with makeshift shanks and "prison napalm" after being sentenced to more than five decades for the killing of three little girls Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine. The south-east London prison is known to be one of Britain's most violent jails, where child killers sit at the very bottom of the prison hierarchy.
It's likely he'll have a target on his back for the rest of his life. Former Category A prisoner Ricky Killeen, 39, told the MailOnline: "Every prisoner will want to target him because he killed children.
"Even small-time prisoners will try to attack him as that will mean they will get more drugs as rewards from other inmates."
Among the cruel methods of violence on hand are "prison napalm" - a mixture of hot water and sugar - which cons will throw on the faces of their rivals and leave them with horrific, blistering burns. They also sharpen items like toilet or tooth brushes to create a sharp point, which they could plunge into the monster's neck.
Rudakubana is currently being assessed by the prison service, which is keeping a close eye on him to decide whether to keep him at Belmarsh or move him elsewhere.
Former prison governor Ian Acheson said: "The threat Rudakubana poses to others is probably unquantifiable. The threat he is subject to will be extremely high. Child killers are at the bottom of the prison hierarchy."
Mr Acheson, an expert on prison radicalisation, added: "Given the facts of his attack, the targets and the intent to make biological weapons [ricin] and reference an Al Qaeda manual, the obvious berth for him would be with Islamist extremists."
Steve Gillan, the General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said: "Of course this individual is going to be a high risk, but the Prison Service have dealt with many like him in the past."