A damning report has lifted the lid on multiple failures to stop evil Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.
The Prevent Learning Review found the teenager should have been treated as a terror threat long before the triple murder. It said Rudakubana posed a “sufficient risk” after he was referred to the counter-terrorism three times by worried school staff.
It accuses officers of a “lack of professional curiosity” and warned that a mis-spelling of Rudakubana’s name on the Prevent database meant he could have slipped through the net. The grim document shows he was fascinated by the Manchester Arena bombing, which claimed 22 innocent lives, searched school shootings on a school computer and talked about stabbing people.
But the review said some of his behaviour was dismissed as being linked to autism and concluded that a lack of a clear ideology meant he was not sent to the Channel programme to divert him from extremism.
Rudakubana was arrested in December 2019 for attacking a pupil at his former school with a hockey stick while carrying a blade. The report says he told police he “was intending to hit the victim with the hockey stick and finish him off with the knife”.
Despite multiple warnings about the dangers he posed, numerous opportunities to stop him were missed. He murdered Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, in a violent knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on July 29 last year. He tried to kill a further eight children and two adults in the harrowing knife attack.
MPs heard Rudakubana was referred to the Prevent programme – which was set up to stop would-be terrorists – three times between December 2019 and April 2021, when he was 13 and 14. Last month Rudakubana was sentenced to at least 52 years behind bars – but judge Mr Justice Julian Goose said he is unlikely to ever be released.
Referral 1 – Carrying knife and searching school shootings
Rudakubana was referred to the Prevent three times by his schools as a result of his behaviour. The first came from a teacher in Decemember 2019. By this stage he had been excluded from his previous school, Range High School, for carrying a knife and searching for mass school shootings on a school computer.
But just over a month later, in January 2020, the case was closed after the teenager explained his internet searches. Before the referral he said he was a victim of bullying and admitted to carrying a knife at school.
Gun and drill violence fascination
When he was first referred to Prevent, Rudakubana was raising alarm for his interest in guns and comments about violent videos. He was also claimed to have talked about drills killing people.
The report said: “He was conducting searches using the school’s internet on school shootings in America, was talking about drawing guns and searching on the internet for guns in another lesson, was also overheard talking to a pupil about watching videos of people hurting themselves and made a graphic comment about a drill bit breaking and killing someone. It is not known if this special interest in school shooting, violence and injury amounted to a fascination as this interest may not have been fully explored and understood.”
Knife and hockey stick attack
In 2019 Rudakubana was arrested for assault and possession of a knife and hockey stick. The report said he told Merseyside Police “he was intending to hit the victim with the hockey stick and finish him off with the knife”.
It further said he was “not bothered by the prospects of prison”. It happened in early December 2019, when he went to his previous school and assaulted a pupil, causing Actual Bodily Harm.
After being kicked out of his school, the killer was given a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) referral. This led to a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Said the Manchester Arena attack was a ‘good thing’
The report said that in 2019, alarm was raised over Rudakubana’s fascination with the Manchester Arena boming.
It was claimed that he stated the suicide bombing was a “good thing”. The review said that when he was first report there were “a number of factors present to have concerns regarding (Rudakubana) and his potential vulnerability to being drawn into terrorism.”
The Prevent review added that in 2019 Rudakubana was also reported by his school after he was found to be researching school shootings.
It said: “The researching of school shootings, talking about stabbing people, stating the terrorist attack on the ‘MEN’ was a good thing, may have shown a real interest in terrorism.
“‘MEN’ probably refers to the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, Manchester arena was known as the ‘MEN’ Arena between 1998 and 2011.”
‘Severed head’ remark
The report said that in December 2019 Rudakubana had questioned during an art lesson why he was able to draw images of guns.
It said he then asked “can we have a picture of a severed head then”.
Referral 2 – Alarming social media posts
A second referral was received from a staff member at Acorns School on February 1, 2021. It was reported that a pupil had showed them social media posts suggesting he was being radicalised.
However this case was also closed just over a fortnight later. The report said several steps could have been taken but were missed, including getting a list of internet searches from his school, speaking to the pupil who raised the concerns – meaning investigators could view the posts, which were not public.
The report concluded: “This referral was closed without the level of professional curiosity expected bearing in mind this was a second referral.”
Spelling mistakes could have meant killer was missed
The damning report also found that Rudakubana’s name was mis-spelled on the Prevent database – meaning previous referrals could have been missed.
Southport MP Patrick Hurley told MPs: “Some of the details in this review beggar belief.” The report pointed to mistakes in the Prevent recording system, known as PCMT. This may have meant the first referral was not found the second time Rudakubana was reported by his school.
It stated: “As the supervisor was unable to find the previous referral on PCMT this may have caused the case to be closed quickly on minimal information. This may be due to the 2nd referral being created on a new subject/individual entity due to the misspelling of AMR’s surname.”
Referral 3 – Searching information about London bombings and IRA
A third referral was received from his teacher on April 26, 2021. Prevent officers were told he had been spotted with internet tabs open during a lesson showing a search for London Bomb and seemed to have a “passionate interest” in Israel/Palestine conflict, MI5 and the IRA.
He had also commented on social media posts relating to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi – but officials said “it does not suggest he holds any extremist ideology”. Despite the two previous referrals being noted, it was concluded that Rudakubana’s needs “were currently met outside of Prevent”. The case was closed on May 10, 2021.
Behaviour dismissed as autism
The review said some of Rudakubana’s behaviour was dismissed as being linked to “Austistic behaviour traits”.
It said: “The PGA did not record that (Rudakubana) had a grievance even though there is evidence he had grievances against his fellow pupils, his teachers, and his family (and bearing in mind he was searching for mass school attacks on the internet).
“Some of these were explained as part of his Autistic behaviour traits by the CTCO – this may well be the case but they are still relevant to his vulnerability to being drawn into terrorism.
“The decision to close the referral at this point is questionable, bearing in mind the violent act already committed, the static vulnerabilities of AMR, his potential interest with mass killings and other internet searches. The static vulnerabilities of AMR and ideology are entwined and should be considered together when making decisions. There is evidence in the notes that these two issues were considered separately.”
Dismissed because of ‘no clear ideology’
The report found the killer may not have been referred to Channel because he was not clearly driven by one dangerous ideology.
This was a mistake, it says. The report states: “There may have been an over-emphasis on the presence of ideology to the detriment of considering AMR’s susceptibility.”
And it continues: “This emphasis on ideology can exist today and careful consideration needs to be given to referrals and cases where individuals are highly susceptible / easily influenced but lack a defined ideology.”
Reviewers said that people whose motivations are “unclear, mixed or unstable”, should be given “the same consideration for support as those whose concerning ideological motivations are more consistent and obvious”.
Multiple referrals could have made a difference
Investigators found the fact Rudakubana was referred several times and not escalated, this could have influenced later decisions.
It said there may have been a “consistency in thinking”. The report states: “The nature of multiple (3) referrals for the same person over a 17-month period, all with potential content that could be seen as Prevent relevant and high levels of susceptibility should have warranted increased scrutiny.
“As a result of the decision not to refer to Channel, all subsequent referrals were potentially viewed similarly. [There was a consistency in thinking throughout].”
Lack of consistency in reports to Prevent
The report raised concerns about the quality of information being passed to Prevent officers. It called for standardisation of what is handed over by police Fixed Intelligence Management Units (FIMU), as these may be a factor in whether a case is escalated.
It recommended that a standardised sharing of information product be considered for national use by all FIMUs.