Southport attack: families not told for six months about killer’s Prevent referrals

Police knew Axel Rudakubana had been referred three times after his arrest last July

The families of those killed or wounded in the Southport attack were not told for six months that the killer had repeatedly been referred to Prevent, the Guardian has learned.

Police knew that Axel Rudakubana had been referred three times to the official scheme aiming to stop people becoming terrorists, less than 24 hours after his arrest at the scene of the atrocity on 29 July 2024.

Topics

Axel Rudakubana: from ‘unassuming’ schoolboy to Southport killer

How a chain of events apparently beginning at school five years ago led to the murder of three girls in horrific atrocity. When Axel Rudakubana returned to school after the summer holidays five ...
The Guardian - 5d
Could calling attacks like Southport 'terrorism' help to prevent them?

Keir Starmer says that terrorism has 'changed' and that the problem must be urgently addressed. But the system is fluid when it comes to what classifies as terrorism
BBC News - 5d
Southport killer had ricin materials sent to neighbour

Messages seen by the BBC confirm the teenage killer's father knew about the unexplained deliveries.
BBC News - 5d
MP calls for harsher sentence for Southport killer

Axel Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for a minimum of 52 years for the murders of three girls.
BBC News - 5d
How the Southport attack unfolded, as told by survivors

Survivors of the horrific incident have recounted how the deadly incident played out.
BBC News - 6d
'Evil' Southport killer jailed for a minimum of 52 years

Axel Rudakubana is handed a life sentence for killing three girls and attacking 10 other people.
BBC News - 6d
Southport killer sentenced to at least 52 years in prison

Judge says ‘highly likely’ 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana will ‘never be released’
Financial Times - 6d
Father stopped Southport killer from going to former school a week before attack

The 18-year-old was known for having a fascination with violence and despotic figures including Hitler.
BBC News - Jan. 21
Six-month-old died after pram hit by car, inquest told

Sophia Kelemen died in hospital on Friday, a day after the crash in a multi-storey car park.
BBC News - Jan. 14

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