Counter-terror police did not think Southport killer Axel Rudakubana would be radicalised, leaked report says
Counter-terror police did not think Southport killer Axel Rudakubana would be radicalised, leaked report says
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Despite three Prevent referrals for Axel Rudakubana, counterterrorism police did not believe he was a radicalisation risk, a report reveals. Counterterrorism police did not believe Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was at risk of being radicalised, a leaked Home Office report has revealed.
![[Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven and Alice da Silva Aguiar (Merseyside Police/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/23/17/740a46c1874470845affcb947fcf6d47Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3NzMyOTcz-2.77084721.jpg)
Officers will be criticised for failing to sufficiently take into account Rudakubana’s obsession with extreme violence when it judged that he was not “in danger of being radicalised” in the Prevent learning review, the Sunday Times reported. Rudakubana, 18, was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years on Thursday after carrying out the depraved massacre of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.
![[Rudakubana was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (Elizabeth Cook/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/24/18/991fc4f3c70f9a14eed9d46d1f3a1ccfY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3ODI5NDA5-2.78774213.jpg)
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were all murdered by Rudakubana, who also tried to kill eight other children, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Home secretary Yvette Cooper announced a public inquiry to look into any “missed opportunities” in identifying Rudakubana’s murderous intent.
She has ordered a “thorough review” of Rudakubana’s three referrals to the Prevent counterterrorism scheme in the years before the attack. Six separate calls were also made to the police about the teen. Writing in The Sunday Times, Ms Cooper said a review of referral thresholds to Prevent was under way, which will look at individuals “obsessed with school massacres” and also “Islamist extremism”.
