Review of terror law would be a mistake, experts warn PM after Southport murders
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Expanding terror laws to encompass atrocities carried out by lone attackers like the Southport killer would be a mistake – and such threats are not new, security experts have warned. Sir Keir Starmer announced a review of terror laws to address “extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms” following the Southport murders.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty on Monday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, in July. The attacks sparked widespread riots across the UK last summer, fuelled by online misinformation that Rudakubana was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.
Crime journalists have criticised “significant overreach” by the Crown Prosecution Service, after police forces involved in the Southport case said they had been advised against sharing more details despite wanting to. Documents about Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs were found on Rudakubana’s devices during police searches of his home.
The teenager pleaded guilty to possessing a knife on the date of the attack, production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
After Sir Keir claimed in a Downing Street statement that this was evidence of a “new threat” – a different kind of terrorism – experts pushed back. Neil Basu, a former national head of counter-terrorism, told LBC it would be a “mistake” to label something as “terrorism if it is not terrorism”, as this could lead some to seek out a “day of infamy”.
