The charges against Axel Rudakubana over possession of the deadly poison ricin and an al Qaida training document were not made public for three months after he murdered three girls at a holiday dance class. Police knew within four days of the knife attack in Southport, Merseyside, on July 29 that a substance found in the teenager’s bedroom was ricin, but the charge against him for having the substance was not publicly confirmed until October 29.
It was then revealed that he was also in possession of an al Qaida training document. The delay in bringing the charges, despite questions from media outlets including the PA news agency over the searches at his home, led to accusations of a cover-up from public figures including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The criticism followed widespread rioting during which right-wing commentators on social media claimed that the public was not being told the whole truth about the attacks, including false claims that Rudakubana was an asylum seeker. Senior officers said the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were not classed as acts of terrorism and that an ideology is critical in deciding whether a crime counts as terrorism.
The Guardian reported that Rudakubana had been referred to the Government anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times before the murders due to concerns about his obsession with violence, but that he was found not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology.
