Southport killer LIVE: Axel Rudakubana pleads guilty to murder of three girls

The following week, when the first prison sentences were handed out for those involved, Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC described a “mob” using the “most foul and racist abuse”, smashing windows, hurling bricks and setting a police van alight.

He said: “This was large scale and very violent criminal activity made much worse by the fact that it was happening only a day after entirely different and utterly tragic events.

“The genuine and collective grief of the residents of Southport was hijacked by this callous behaviour.”

Ms Kennedy said 93 officers were hurt, with injuries including fractured legs, knocked out teeth and a broken jaw.

On Wednesday morning, the clean up of Southport began, but by the evening violence had spread further afield – with demonstrations in London, Hartlepool in County Durham and Aldershot in Hampshire.

For the next week, as Rudakubana was charged, appeared before court and officially named, violent protests continued across the country.

As floral tributes near the scene grew, so did speculation about who was behind the attack.

When Prime Minister Sir visited to pay his respects the day after the stabbing, there were hostile shouts of: “How many more Starmer? When are you going to do something?”

By that evening, things began to turn violent.

A crowd gathered outside Southport mosque – which has no known links to Rudakubana – for a planned protest on the evening of July 30.

Shouts of “English ’til I die” were heard and bricks broken off from garden walls were used as missiles.

Police officers initially seemed unprepared for the violence, without riot helmets or shields.

Summer riots which saw violence across the country were sparked by the stabbings carried out by a teenager in Southport.

Axel Rudakubana, then 17, murdered three children and attempted to murder eight other children and two adults in his attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the seaside town on July 30.

Within hours of his attack, posts spread on the internet which claimed the suspect was a 17-year-old asylum seeker, who had come to the country by boat last year.

In the first press conference after the event, at 6.30pm that day, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told journalists the suspect was originally from Cardiff.

But, the police statement did little to quell the misinformation spreading online.

Police forces do not name suspects before they are charged and Rudakubana – still a youth at 17 – would remain anonymous even after he was charged because of his age.

At 11 years old, Rudakubana appeared dressed as Doctor Who in a television advert for Children In Need, after being recruited through a casting agency, it is understood.

The now-deleted clip shows him leaving the Tardis wearing a trench coat and tie to look like the show’s former star David Tennant and offering advice on how best to raise money.

His mother, father and older brother were co-operating with police and had provided witness statements.

At all of his court appearances, Rudakubana held his sweatshirt over his face and refused to speak.

When he first entered Liverpool Magistrates’ Court, he was seen to smile towards members of the press before covering his face.

A profile of his father, Alphonse Rudakubana, printed in local newspaper the Southport Visiter in 2015 said he was originally from Rwanda, a country that suffered a deadly genocide in the early 1990s, and moved to the UK in 2002.

Rudakubana, the youngest son of the family, was born in Cardiff, where neighbours of the family described a “lovely couple” with a hardworking father and stay-at-home mother to “two boisterous boys”.

In 2013 they moved to Banks, just a few miles outside of Southport, where Rudakubana’s father trained with local martial arts clubs.

The family lived in a mid-terrace three-bedroom house in a newly-built cul-de-sac of a dozen or so properties.

Teachers at the specialist school, which was within the borough of Sefton, were concerned about Rudakubana’s behaviour and his violence towards others, it is understood.

At his first appearance at Liverpool Crown Court, Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said it was understood Rudakubana had been unwilling to leave the house and communicate with his family for a period of time.

She said: “He was seen by the psychiatrists at the police station but refused to engage with them.”

The court was told he had no obvious evidence of mental health disorder which required diversion to hospital.

The teenager who killed three girls in a stabbing at a Southport dance class showed violent behaviour while in high school, it is understood.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, killed Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in the stabbing at the Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on July 29.

Aged 17 at the time of the attack, Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and moved with his family to the village of Banks in Lancashire about a decade ago.

Neighbours described the family as unremarkable, but it can now be reported that teachers had concerns about his behaviour.

He was excluded from his secondary school for an incident involving a hockey stick, Express.co.uk understands.

The teenager, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, is believed to have left Range High School in Formby in around 2019, before moving to a specialist school.

Axel Rudakubana will be sentenced on Thursday, said Judge Mr Justice Goose.

Axel Rudakubana has also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of eight other children and to the attempted murder of Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, has pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court to murdering three young girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

Axel Rudakubana is accused of the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes in the same incident.

Rudakubana is also charged with possession of a knife on the day 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.

The alleged terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024.

Last week, the Attorney General warned about the risk of publishing anything which could influence the jury.

An advisory issued on Thursday said: “While proceedings are active, the Attorney General is reminding editors, publishers and social media users that fair and accurate reporting of legal proceedings held in public in good faith is permitted.

“However, you may be at risk of being in contempt of court if you publish material or comment online that is inaccurate, unfair or involves discussion or commentary which could influence the jury’s deliberations.

“This includes anything that asserts or assumes, expressly or implicitly, the guilt of Axel Rudakubana. This is due to the risk of potentially jeopardising the criminal trial.

“The Contempt of Court Act 1981 seeks to prevent any interference with the administration of justice and the right to a fair trial.”

Born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, Rudakubana moved to Banks, near Southport, in about 2013.

Described as a quiet and clingy child, he lived with his older brother and parents.

Neighbours recall the family as friendly and active in their local community and church.

Axel is understood to have a background in musical theatre and experienced difficulty socialising.

A heavy police presence outside Liverpool Crown Court, where Axel Rudakubana, 18, is charged with three counts of murder, 10 attempted murders and possession of a knife, after a stabbing attack on a Taylor Swift-themed children’s holiday club class last year.

A teenager will go on trial on Monday accused of murdering three young girls in a knife attack at a Southport dance class, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting.

Axel Rudakubana, of Banks in Lancashire, will stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; who died following the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at The Hart Space shortly before midday on July 29.

He is accused of the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes in the same incident.

Rudakubana is also accused of producing the deadly poison ricin and possession of an al Qaeda training manual.

The Home Secretary has said the whole country is thinking of the families of those killed in the Southport knife attack.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie, the survivors, and the people of Southport, and the whole country will be thinking of them.

“The most important thing for all of us is to ensure that the legal process can take its course, to respect the difficult job the court has to do, so there is a fair trial and justice can be done.

“There will be a time at the end of this trial to discuss what happened and the action needed in response to this horrific tragedy. But for now, and until the proceedings have concluded, the priority for all of us must be to ensure justice is done.”