Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is manipulating system, victims’ families say | Southport attack
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been accused by his victims’ families of trying to “manipulate the system” after it was revealed he had been transferred from prison to a psychiatric hospital.
Rubakubana, 19, was sentenced to at least 52 years in prison in January last year for the murders of seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, six-year-old Bebe King and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar.
Rudakubana was transferred from category A prison Belmarsh to high-security Broadmoor hospital after it was concluded he could not be managed safely in prison, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
Next Wednesday will be two years since his attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29, 2024.
The transfer does not change the killer’s 52-year sentence.
Chris Walker, of law firm Bond Turner, who represented the three bereaved families, said: “The three families we represent have been notified of this development within the last 48 hours and we can confidently say that the news could devastate them at any time, but in our view the fact that this has occurred in the run-up to the second anniversary is yet another move by AR trying to manipulate the system once again.
“We have been given the finest details and whilst we are supporting the families, we would like to urgently seek a meeting with the appropriate authorities to understand the situation before commenting further.”
Prison officers made similar accusations against the convicted murderer. Mark Fairhurst, chief executive of the Prison Officers’ Association, said in a statement: “This despicable criminal has gamed the system and will now enjoy the freedoms afforded to mentally ill patients in secure psychiatric hospitals, including benefits funded by law-abiding taxpayers.
“My members will now be at risk without the protections afforded to staff in prisons because they are classified as patients. He must serve his entire sentence in solitary confinement in a prison.
“My thoughts are with the families of the victims and everyone affected by his heinous crimes.”
Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, attacked eight children, class teacher Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, who tried to disarm him. He was also found guilty of producing the biological toxin ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual, an offense under the Terrorism Act.
Alder Hey children’s NHS charity previously confirmed Rudakubana was under its care as a mental health patient between 2019 and 2023 and that he “left the relationship” at that time. He was directed to them after he said he took the knife to school and later said he did it “to use it.”
He was also directed to the UK’s counter-extremism programme, Prevent, because he was researching school massacres on a computer at his next school, Acorns.
There were two more referrals to Prevent, but neither made headway as there was no clear ideology behind Rudakubana’s obsession with violence.
Broadmoor, in Crowthorne, Berkshire, is the oldest of England’s three high-security psychiatric hospitals. It was used to hold some of the UK’s most notorious murderers, including Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
Patients are locked up under tightly regulated conditions with locked wards, monitored by staff, and tight physical security, including 24-hour security cameras. They receive mandatory treatment and rehabilitation programs. If offenders no longer need hospital treatment, the Mental Health Act 1983 provides for a rapid return to prison.
