Alder Hey Children's Hospital has revealed a new update about Southport killer Axel Rudakubana. Yesterday, the 18-year-old killer received one of the highest minimum custody terms on record for the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space in Southport in July last year, when he was 17. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed in the horror attack, with harrowing details heard at Liverpool Crown Court.
Rudakubana also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. In court, it emerged that Rudakabana was in contact with social services and had also been referred to the government anti-extremism programme, Prevent, three times.
However, very little has been known about his contact with NHS mental health services. Earlier this week, the Liverpool Echo asked Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust to clarify whether he had been seen under its Child and Adolescent Mental Health services, which work in communities around the region.
In an initial statement, the trust said: "Following the conviction of Axel Rudakubana, we welcome the announcement of an independent public inquiry and will fully co-operate in the process. It would not be appropriate for us to make any further comment at this time.".
Now, it has been revealed that was under the care of the hospital's mental health services between 2019 and 2023, but stopped engaging two years ago in February 2023. During a press conference involving various agency leaders, Assistant Chief Constable Mark Winstanley of Lancashire Police, who is chair of the county's Children's Safeguarding Assurance Partnership, was asked to share more details about Rudakubana's contact with mental health services within the NHS and if any assessments were done on him.
