Southport killer’s anti-terror referral closed ‘early’ despite interest in Manchester attack & ‘wanting to stab people’

5 February 2025, 15:46 | Updated: 5 February 2025, 16:50

The Prevent counter-extremism programme wrongly concluded Southport killer Axel Rudakubana posed no threat despite clear evidence to the contrary, a Government review has found.

Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in jail for the murder of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, when Rudakubana launched his attack in July last year.

Prior to his killing spree, the teenager had been referred to Prevent on three separate occasions - with no further action being taken at any point.

The killer had shown a clear interest in violence, including the Manchester Arena bombings that killed twenty-two people and saying he "wanted to stab people."

Read more: 'I looked him in the eye and said what have you done?': Horror aftermath of Southport rampage revealed

Today, a Government review found there was "sufficient risk" posed by Southport killer Axel Rudakubana to keep his cases within the Government's counter-terrorism Prevent programme active and these were "closed prematurely".

The review found "too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology" - despite his history of violence.

The Government has accepted all 14 recommendations made by the review and pledged to "get Prevent right" in the wake of the tragedy in Southport.

Home Office minister Dan Jarvis told the Commons: "We must get Prevent right. That is why the Home Office and counter-terrorism policing commissioned a rapid Prevent learning review immediately after the attack.

"These are usually internal technical reviews intended to identify swift learning and improvement for Prevent but the importance of the families needing answers has meant that today, following close engagement with the families, we are taking the unusual step of publishing the Prevent learning review.

"I can update the House that the perpetrator was referred to Prevent three times between December 2019 when he was aged 13 and April 2021 when he was 14. Those referrals were made by his schools.

"The first referral reported concerns about him carrying a knife and searching for school shootings on the internet. The second referral was focused on his online activity relating to Libya and Gaddafi. His third referral was for searching for London bombings, the IRA and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

How the Southport stabbing attack unfolded

"On each of these occasions, the decision at the time was that the perpetrator should not progress to the channel multi-agency process. But the Prevent learning review found that there was sufficient risk for the perpetrator to have been managed through Prevent.

"It found that the referral was closed prematurely, and there was sufficient concern to keep the case active while further information was collected."

Ending his statement in the House of Commons, the security minister told MPs: "While we can never undo the hurt and pain caused by this unthinkably wretched attack, we can, we must, and we will do everything in our power to prevent further atrocities.

Tom Swarbrick cries on air after hearing about the Southport killings

"As the Prime Minister said, Southport must be a line in the sand for our country. If that means asking difficult questions about shortcomings or failings, so be it.

"If it means holding institutions and processes to account, we will do so without fear or favour.

"And if changes are required to protect the public and combat the threats that we face, then this Government will not hesitate to act."

Following the review, Rudakubana will be considered a registered terrorist offender" and treated as a "person convicted of an offence under the Terrorism Act", Jarvis added.

Reform UK's Richard Tice told the Commons the review shows a "series of massive failures" took place at Prevent.

He said: "This Prevent learning review into the Southport horror is shocking and it reveals a series of massive failures to the point of gross negligence by people in Prevent.

"But it's also clear from this review, it uses some crucial words here - it made him more susceptible to be drawn into terrorism, which I think appears to indicate that the review has found that the killer was a terrorist.

"Therefore I think the Government and the CPS need to be crystal clear with the British people: Are they now accepting that this monster, this was a terror incident?"