Exclusive:
Just days after deranged murderer Axel Rudakubana was jailed for 52 years, the Mirror discovered videos and manuals online listing ingredients and explaining in detail how to produce deadly ricin
Google, YouTube and TikTok have removed chilling guides on how to make the poison hoarded by the Southport killer – after our investigation found the lethal instructions on all of their sites.
Just days after deranged murderer Axel Rudakubana was jailed for 52 years, we discovered videos and manuals online listing ingredients and explaining in detail how to produce deadly ricin. But in a stunning victory for our probe, the toxic content has now been taken down.
It comes after the government vowed to demand tech firms remove online material accessed by evil Rudakubana. The 18-year-old was locked up this week after pleading guilty to murdering three little girls and attempting to murder eight other children and two adults in a frenzied stabbing attack at a dance class in July. He also admitted making ricin in his bedroom.
We found two recipe videos for the poison on YouTube. In one, a man talks to viewers like he’s hosting a cooking show. In the comments section, one user admits: “This was the process that I followed to manufacture some ricin.” We used the Google search engine to discover a recipe in an online manual, that also included instructions on how to make bombs and other lethal weapons. On TikTok, instructions are listed under the heading: “Here’s a few things you need to know to make your production go much easier.”
A senior toxicologist viewed our findings and confirmed: “People with little if any lab training could easily make ricin at home by following these steps.” Ricin is a biological toxin found naturally in castor beans and can be fatal if inhaled or ingested. The instructions tell how to extract the poison from the beans and process it into a powder.
Former Head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office Chris Phillips said: “It’s absolutely disgusting and alarming that this type of information is still available on the internet. Ricin is a murder material – there is only one real reason for having it and making it and that is to kill. Tech companies like YouTube and TikTok are playing Russian roulette with people’s lives – they need to do everything in their power to make it impossible for anyone to access this information.”
Rudakubana took the lives of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. After the attack in July 2024, police discovered ricin at his home in a sealed box.Dan Kaszeta, an independent expert on chemical and biological weapons, told us: “Of all the biological and chemical weapons that someone could try to obtain, ricin has always been the easiest. The toxin itself is made by nature and it is a matter of school-level chemistry to extract it from the castor beans.”
Rudakubana pleaded guilty last week to 16 offences including the murder of three young girls and the attempted murder of 10 other people including eight children, as well as the production of ricin and possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual. It emerged this week that despite contact with state agencies including Prevent, authorities failed to stop the brutal attack. On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an inquiry into the case. Ministers stressed the need to “consider the wider challenge of rising youth violence” and vowed to demand tech firms remove online material Rudakubana accessed.
A spokesperson for Google, which owns Youtube, said ”YouTube’s Community Guidelines don’t allow content that’s intended to encourage dangerous activities that have an inherent risk of physical harm. That’s why we’ve removed the videos flagged by the Sunday Mirror and terminated the associated channels.” TikTok removed the clip for violating their Community Guidelines. The government was approached for comment.
