Axel Rudakubana was missed by multiple agencies (Image: AP)
A public inquiry will be set up after numerous agencies “failed to identify the terrible risk” Southport killer Axel Rudakubana posed.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the public probe will “get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change.”
Ms Cooper said the teenager was referred to the Government’s counterterrorism scheme – Prevent – three times.
And he “also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services” before carrying out his “meticulously planned rampage” at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; died following the attack in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on patrol with officers from West Yorkshire Police during a visit to Ha (Image: PA)
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The perpetrator was in contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years.
“He was referred three times to the Prevent programme between December 2019 and May 2021 aged 13 and 14.
“He also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services.
“Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed.
“This terrible case comes against a backdrop over a series of years in which growing numbers of teenagers have been referred to Prevent, investigated by counter-terror police, or referred to other agencies amid concerns around serious violence and extremism.
“We need to face up to why this has been happening and what needs to change.”
The teenager had a sickening obsession with violence and held “incel” views, sources have said.
But the case has exposed more failings with Prevent and its inability to deal with violent individuals when there is no terrorist ideology motivating them.
Ms Cooper confirmed the Government plans to announce “new reforms to the Prevent programme”.
She said: “Although, in line with CPS advice to preserve the integrity of the prosecution, we were constrained in what we were able to say at the time, the Home Office commissioned an urgent Prevent Learning Review during the summer into the three referrals that took place and why they were closed.
“We will publish further details this week, alongside new reforms to the Prevent programme.
“But we also need more independent answers on both Prevent and all the other agencies that came into contact with this extremely violent teenager as well as answers on how he came to be so dangerous, including through a public inquiry that can get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change.
“This horrendous attack will leave a lasting impact on our country.
“We will all remember Alice, Bebe and Elsie, and we will always stand with the families and the community who are living with the pain of their loss.
“In our efforts to answer the questions that remain about this case, the need to see justice done for the victims and their families will remain at the forefront of our minds.”
Terror watchdog Jonathan Hall told LBC that Prevent “needs to be expanded” or there should be a separate programme to catch “high-risk” people who are obsessed with violence.
Rudakubana is understood to have first been referred to Prevent over his fascination with school massacres and violence.
He even used school computers to look up details of mass killings.
The teenager also looked up terrorist attacks in the UK, including the Islamist atrocities in 2017 in London.
While officials believed his behaviour was concerning, it did not meet the threshold for further intervention.
He was judged three times not to pose a terrorism risk.
But sources say there remains a grey area in cases where it is feared that a young person may pose a risk of violence, but where there is no sign of a terrorist ideology motivating them.
A source said: “There is a gap for those who are volatile, who need management, who may be dangerous. There is nothing for them.”
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said it will present its “full case” on Rudakubana to court when he is sentenced on Thursday, amid questions over why more information cannot be disclosed now he has pleaded guilty to his crimes.
Nick Price, CPS director of legal services, said: “Following his guilty pleas, Axel Rudakubana is due to be sentenced on Thursday this week for his crimes.
“The next stage of the process is for the prosecution to present our full case to the court on Thursday, including relevant details of the defendant’s past, so the judge can consider all of the evidence when passing sentence.
“This will be the point when the full details of this case will be heard by the public.
“We recognise the profound interest in these proceedings and it is important the prosecution case is presented to the court so the facts can be determined which may inform the sentence handed down.
“Our thoughts remain with the families of Elsie, Bebe, and Alice and all those whose lives were shattered by these harrowing events.”
Home Office figures examined by the Daily Express show 54 people were referred to Prevent for “incel” views in the year to March 2024.
And almost 2,500 were identified as having “vulnerabilities”, but no “ideology or CT risk”.
Security officials have also pointed to a growing number of people obsessed with violence and a “mixture” of ideologies.
This means extremists are effectively picking different elements from far-right and Islamist ideologies.
Despite accounting for around three quarters of MI5’s counter-terrorism investigation, just 913 of the 6,922 were for suspected Islamist extremism.
Some 162 people were referred to counter-terrorism specialists over their apparent obsessions with school massacres.
Highlighting how young people are becoming obsessed with violence,
Reform UK leader said: “Three times, this young man was given to Prevent.
“They clearly haven’t acted correctly. It seems other members of his family knew what his intentions were, and we have had one of the worst cover-ups I think I have ever seen.
“I was completely vilified for daring to ask these questions.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is reviewing the threshold in which Prevent intervenes in cases.
At the moment Prevent is only suitable for those with a clear extremist ideology.
Ms Cooper previously said: “A lack of clarity remains over whether Prevent should be confined to cases of clear ideology or should also be picking up cases where the ideology is less clear, or where there is a fixation with violence.”
The Home Secretary has promised changes to the Prevent programme and a new commissioner to oversee how it worked.