Southport killer Axel Rudakubana had an 'obsession with extreme violence' devices owned by teen reveal
21 January 2025, 08:18
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana had an “obsession with extreme violence”, devices in his possession revealed.
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Documents about Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs were found on devices belonging to the teenager, who had a "sickening" interest in violence.
On Monday, Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murder of three young girls at a dance club in Southport.
When police searched the home of Axel Rudakubana in Banks, Lancashire, after he carried out the attack on July 29, they found knives and poison, as well as images and documents relating to violence, war and genocide on his devices.
Before leaving his home to travel to the dance class where he murdered three young girls. Axel is understood to have searched social media site X for the Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbing, which led to a video of the stabbing of the Bishop Emmanuel and five others during a sermon at church in Sydney in April 2024.
Among the items found on two tablet computers belonging to Rudakubana were documents including A Concise History Of Nazi Germany and The Myth Of The Remote Controlled Car Bomb, PA reports.
Rudakubana, whose parents moved to the UK from Rwanda, also had documents called Rwanda's Hutu Extremist Insurgency - An Eye Witness Perspective and Death And Survival During The 1994 Genocide In Rwanda.
Other files included A Place Under Heaven - Amerindian Torture and Cultural Violence; The Mau Mau War: British Counterinsurgency in Colonial Kenya; Clan Cleansing In Somalia, The Ruinous Legacy of 1991; and Examination Of Punishments Dealt To Slave Rebels In Two 18th Century British Plantation Societies.
Also found was a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual.
The discovery of the file led to Rudakubana being charged with possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism, which he admitted on Monday.
Ursula Doyle, deputy chief crown prosecutor, said: "It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence."
Images relating to wars and conflicts including Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Korea, well as images of knives and machetes, were discovered on the tablets.
Ricin was discovered in a plastic container under Rudakubana's bed, and a bag which had contained castor seeds, used to make the poison, was found which had been purchased in 2022.
Rudakubana, who pleaded guilty on Monday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July, was referred three times to anti-extremism programme Prevent amid concerns over his fixation with violence.
Despite this, his case has never been treated as terror-related by police as he did not appear to follow an ideology, such as Islamism or racial hatred, and instead appeared to be motivated by an interest in extreme violence.
Following Rudakubana's guilty pleas, Keir Starmer described the 18-year-old as "vile and sick", and said there were "grave questions to answer" on how the state "failed" to protect the three girls.
The Prime Minister added: "Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit."
The PM will deliver an address to the nation later this morning as the government launches a public inquiry into the Southport killings.
