Headteacher who feared Southport killer was a risk ‘was accused of racially stereotyping a black boy with a knife’

The risk posed to others by Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was toned down by professionals for fear of being accused of racism, a report into the massacre claims has found.

Born in Wales to parents who had fled Rwanda, he was enrolled at The Acorns School, a pupil referral unit in Ormskirk, Lancashire, at the age of 13 after being expelled from mainstream education for taking a knife to class.

Headteacher Joanne Hodson told the public inquiry she recognized from her first day that the teenager was ‘very high risk’ and had an ‘unrepentant’ attitude.

But when she tried to raise the risk she posed to others, Ms Hodson said she was accused of ‘racially stereotyping’ by children’s mental health expert Samantha Steed. [Rudakubana] as a ‘black kid with a knife’.

Ms Hodson told the inquiry that the charge of ‘racial profiling’ ‘effectively silenced me’.

The warning about the risk posed by Rudakubana, which was included in the draft of the education, health and care plan, remained in the document.

However, some parts have been rewritten, for example a reference to ‘bad’ internet use has been replaced with the word ‘inappropriate’.

Sir Adrian Fulford, chairman of the inquiry, concluded it was “unwise” for Ms Steed to “raise issues of racial stereotyping”.

Rudakubana (pictured) was enrolled in the pupil guidance unit at the age of 13 after being expelled from general education for bringing a knife into class.

Bebe King (left), Elsie Dot Stancombe (center) and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (right) died following Rudakubana’s mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class

“Although there was no allegation that he made direct accusations of racial stereotyping against Ms Hodson, raising such a controversial issue nevertheless served to ‘shut down’ Ms Hodson,” Sir Adrian wrote.

‘Ms Hodson was making a valid point about the need for risk assessment’ and added that this was ‘another example of insufficient emphasis on the risks the child may present to others’.

The inquest into the 2024 murders concluded yesterday that the ‘catastrophic’ failures of Rudakubana’s parents meant the chance to prevent the attack was missed.

Chairman Sir Adrian said he would not have been released on the day of the attack if his parents had done the ‘moral thing’ and reported his suspicious behaviour.

The inquest at Liverpool City Hall heard the killer’s autism was used as an excuse for his past behavior, while a ‘carousel’ of referrals and assessments meant no agency realized how dangerous the teenager was.

At the end of his 760-page report into the attack, Sir Adrian called for an end to the ‘culture’ of institutions delegating responsibility among themselves.

Among those he criticized were Lancashire Police, the government’s counter-extremism service Prevent, various NHS mental health services and the County Council, among other services.

He said: ‘This failure is at the root of this. [Rudakubana] He managed to carry out the attack despite many warning signs of his capacity to use lethal violence.’

Now, Sir Adrian has called for urgent reforms, adding that he hopes it will be a ‘real turning point’.

He described Rudakubana as ‘an aggressive, almost completely reclusive individual who bullied and threatened his family and shamelessly lied to the authorities’.

The investigation revealed a model of mental health services and social care that treated the teenager’s autism spectrum disorder as an ‘excuse’ for his behavior, rather than seeing that in Rudakubana’s case it ‘significantly increased the risk he posed’.