Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is restrained by classmates in shocking footage taken several years before his deadly attack that left three young girls dead at a Taylor Swift-themed party
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Axel Rudakubana restrained by classmates during high school altercation
Shocking new footage purportedly shows the moment Southport knife attacker Axel Rudakubana is physically restrained by his classmates at school.
In the footage, taken several years before his deadly attack on young children at a dance class, a younger Rudakubana is seen lashing out at a female teacher as other schoolchildren try to subdue him. On Monday, Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, in court. He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and the attempted murder of Leanne Lucas and John Hayes.
The horrific murders took place at The Hart Space in Southport, Merseyside on July 29 last year, when he ran into the studio during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and unleashed more than 10 minutes of violence on the class of 26 children, before being arrested by police at the scene.
The 18-year-old from Banks, Lancashire, moved to Merseyside in 2013, and went to primary school in Southport. When he reached secondary school he enrolled at Range High School, in nearby Formby. There, Rudakubana was involved in a number of behaviour-related incidents, including one captured on video where he appears to try to attack a female teacher in a classroom. The video, obtained by the Echo, is believed to have been filmed when Rudakubana was in either year 7 or year 8 at the school.
In the video, pupils can be seen holding Rudakubana back as he tries to make his way towards a teacher in the classroom. This came before his permanent exclusion from the school in October 2019.
The same year, he was convicted of assaulting another child at school with a hockey stick and was placed under supervision by a youth offending team. This week, it emerged he was referred to Prevent three times – once in December 2019, when he was 13, and twice in 2021. The referrals followed evidence that he had expressed interest in school shootings, the 2017 London Bridge attack, the Irish Republican Army and the Middle East, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in the Commons on Tuesday.
His case was assessed by counterterrorism police, but each time the referral was closed without further action. During the same period, police were also called to his home five times over unspecified concerns about his behaviour.
