Footage released of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana leaving taxi without paying
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Video footage has been released of the moment Southport killer Axel Rudakubana left a taxi without paying before launching his knife attack. Wearing a green sweatshirt with the hood up and a surgical mask, Rudakubana can be seen speaking to the driver from the back of the car after arriving at the scene on July 29 2024.
Rudakubana, then aged 17, repeatedly ignored the driver when asked how he wanted to pay. “That’s it yeah, it’s down there, it’s a spray shop,” the driver told Rudakubana during the 21-second clip. “A spray shop, are you sure?” the killer appeared to reply, before being asked again if he wanted to pay “with cash or card mate?”.
After looking down at his phone for several seconds, Rudakubana climbed out of the taxi shutting the door behind him, dodging a third attempt by the driver to get him to pay. The driver followed him demanding payment, but he was again ignored. A worker at the spray shop, one house over from the Hart Space studio in central Southport, saw what was going on and told Rudakubana to pay the taxi driver, but he replied: “What are you going to do about it?”.
Rudakubana arrived on Hart Street just before 11.45am. Seconds later, he entered the Taylor Swift-themed dance class. At 11.59am he was arrested, initially on suspicion of attempted murder, and soon afterwards, at 12.02pm, on suspicion of murder. Rudakubana stabbed two adults and 11 children, of whom Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar suffered fatal injuries.
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