Axel Rudakubana will be sentenced this week for the sick triple murder of three young girls in Southport, with his final appearance in court tying a knot on a twisted journey for the teen.
The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to the July 29 slayings of Elsie Dot Stancombe, nine, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, seven, in court on Monday, and 13 other charges relating to the incident that shocked the nation last year. He also admitted the attempted murders of eight children and two adults, the production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of a terrorist document.
His identity as a twisted murderer is complex, with neighbours knowing the teen as the “clingy” younger son of a “lovely young couple” from Rwanda. Before he was referred to Prevent three times and carried out the horror killings, he was making steps into the world of theatre.
Rudakubana was born the youngest of two children to a “hardworking” father and stay-at-home mother in Cardiff in 2006. The family relocated to Lancashire in 2013, becoming valued members of the local community and regularly attending church. Their new neighbours described autistic Rudakubana as the “quiet” one of two brothers, adding he was an “introvert”.
Speaking after the attacks last year, one neighbour told The Sun: “They were a lovely young couple. They were little boys, they were boisterous. Mum was a stay-at-home mum, Dad was nice, he went to work every day.” Neighbours could reportedly hear singing from their home as Rudakubana developed a love of music, a passion that later brought him to the West End Shaftesbury theatre.
He visited the theatre to make friends, but also developed an interest in acting, having appeared aged 11 in a BBC Children in Need advert dressed in David Tennant’s trademark Timelord threads. The BBC and Ology child talent agency he was represented by have since deleted the clip, which was filmed in Blackpool in 2018.
Over the following years his interests shifted to the macabre, including school massacres, and he was referred to counter-terrorism programme Prevent three times before the 2024 massacre. The teenager was found three times not to pose a terrorism risk. He has since pleaded guilty to terror-related offences.
Ursula Doyle, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Mersey-Cheshire branch, said he exhibited a “sickening and sustained interest in death and violence” before carrying out the “meticulously planned” Southport attacks. She said: “At the start of the school holidays, a day which should have been one of carefree innocence; of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage.
“It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence. He has shown no sign of remorse. The prosecution was determined to prove his guilt. Today’s plea has spared the families at the heart of this case the pain of having to relive their ordeal through a trial.
“Today, our thoughts are with all those whose lives were altered by what happened on that day. Most of all, we think of Elsie, Bebe, and Alice – the three beautiful young girls whose lives were cut short – and wish strength and courage to the families who loved and cherished them.”
Rudakubana will be sentenced on January 23.
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