Southport killer Axel Rudakubana posed 'significant threat' but cases were 'closed prematurely'
A government review into Prevent's assessment of the dangers posed by murderer Axel Rudakubana have shown the teenager posed a 'significant risk' but the cases were 'closed prematurely'.
Rudakubana was handed a life imprisonment with a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar last year. The 18-year-old of Banks, Lancashire was also convicted of the stabbing of 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in Southport on July 29, 2024.
He also admitted production of ricin and a terror charge regarding the possession of a military study of an Al-Qaeda training manual. Following this, Rudakubana was referred to counter-terrorism scheme Prevent on three occasions, the last being three years before the Southport stabbing horror.
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Rudakubana came to Prevent's attention after expressing an interest in school shootings, the London Bridge attack, IRA and conflicts in the Middle East, the ECHO reports.
Today (Wednesday, February 5), security minister Dan Jarvis has given a speech to the House of Commons, showing the teenage posed a "significant risk" but the cases with Prevent were "closed prematurely". Mr Jarvis told MPs: “We must get Prevent right. That is why the Home Office and counter-terrorism policing commissioned a rapid Prevent learning review immediately after the attack.
“These are usually internal technical reviews intended to identify swift learning and improvement for Prevent but the importance of the families needing answers has meant that today, following close engagement with the families, we are taking the unusual step of publishing the Prevent learning review.
“I can update the House that the perpetrator was referred to Prevent three times between December 2019 when he was aged 13 and April 2021 when he was 14. Those referrals were made by his schools.
“The first referral reported concerns about him carrying a knife and searching for school shootings on the internet. The second referral was focused on his online activity relating to Libya and Gaddafi. His third referral was for searching for London bombings, the IRA and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“On each of these occasions, the decision at the time was that the perpetrator should not progress to the channel multi-agency process. But the Prevent learning review found that there was sufficient risk for the perpetrator to have been managed through Prevent.
“It found that the referral was closed prematurely, and there was sufficient concern to keep the case active while further information was collected.”
Mr Jarvis said there was too much emphasis on the ideology behind Rudakubana’s interests. He said: “The review concluded that too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology, to the detriment of considering the perpetrator’s susceptibility, grievances and complex needs.
“There was an under-exploration of the significance of his repeat referrals, and the cumulative risk, including his history of violence.”
Mr Jarvis added: “The overall conclusion of the review is that he should have been case managed through the channel multi-agency process, rather than closed to Prevent. This would have enabled to coordinated multi-agency risk management and support.”
A total of 14 recommendations for improvements to the Prevent learning review focused on Rudakubana have been made, which the government has accepted. Mr Jarvis told MPs that the government has begun an internal review of the Prevent thresholds, which will be completed in April.
Mr Jarvis said the review will: “Ensure Prevent can deal with the full range of threats we see today, from Islamist extremism, which is the most significant terrorist threat that the UK faces, through to the fascination with mass violence that we saw in the Southport case.”