Axel Rudakubana: Live updates as Southport child killer faces sentencing for murdering three children in knife rampage

Axel Rudakubana has now entered the court room after his sentencing was delayed for more than 45 minutes.

Mr Justice Goose is now sat in the court as the sentencing gets under way.

No reason has been given for the delay.

It was reported earlier that Rudakubana was taken to hospital earlier this morning.

Sources have confirmed Axel Rudakubana was rushed from prison to an undisclosed hospital before being brought to court.

The Times reported Rudakubana, 18, ‘required medical attention’ and was taken to hospital in the early hours, sources told the newspaper.

However, his condition was not deemed serious enough to delay his sentencing hearing.

Outside court, there were a small number of protesters gathered and a large number of police.

The Liverpool Echo has reported around 40 family members of the Southport victims have taken their seats in the public gallery.

On Monday, many of the victims’ relatives did not see Rudakubana plead guilty to all 16 charges as they believed his trial would open fully on Tuesday.

Rudakubana has yet to appear in the court.

We can now bring you footage of the moment Southport killer Axel Rudakubana arrived at Liverpool Crown Court in a police convoy.

The Southport killer’s sentencing hearing is about to get under way following a slight delay to proceedings.

We’re about to get under way in the sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court.

We can expect to hear victim impact statements, the prosecution outline their case and mitigation arguments from the defence.

Mr Justice Goose will then deliver his remarks in which he will explain how long Rudakubana will spend in prison before passing his sentence.

We will bring you live updates throughout the day.

A whole life order is the most severe punishment a judge can give out in England and Wales.

It means the offender will never be released from prison, except in exceptional compassionate circumstances.

The tariff is saved for the most heinous murderers, including serial killer Levi Bellfield and former Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

It differs from a life sentence, which means the offender must serve a minimum term in prison before they are eligible for parole.

Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana is not expected to receive a whole-life order because he was 17 at the time of the attack and the measures can normally only be imposed on criminals aged 21 or over.

They are usually only considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances.

A whole life sentence is seen as too severe and not appropriate for a young offender.

A parent of one of the Southport stabbing victims says child killer Axel Rudakubana ‘should rot in jail’ after he in sentenced today.

He urged the judge to show now mercy when he sentences Rudakubana, 18, after he pleaded guilty to killing three primary schoolgirls and attempting to murder 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last summer.

The 18-year-old, who wore a facemask and refused to stand in the dock, changed his pleas from not guilty to guilty in a U-turn as his four-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court was about to start.

However, he cannot be given a whole life tariff as he was 13 days from his 18th birthday when he carried out the worst targeted attack on children in Britain since the Dunblane massacre in 1996.

The parent of one of the girls who needed surgery after the attack insisted that the rules need to be changed. ‘Axel should rot in jail,’ said the parent, who cannot be identified for legal reasons to protect his child.

Axel Rudakubana has arrived at Liverpool Crown Court – his prison van accompanied by a heavy police presence.

He arrived at 10.45am in a convoy headed by a police car with two motorcycle outriders and two more police vehicles at the rear.

Axel Rudakubana bought the knife he used to kill three little girls and injure 10 others from Amazon, despite being 17 years old and it being illegal to sell to under-18s.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has since vowed to bring in stricter checks when buying knives, especially online.

The Prime Minister said it was unacceptable murder weapons can be obtained with ‘two clicks’ online.

Under new Government plans, anyone purchasing a knife from the web will have to provide a digital scan of an official identity document such as a passport or driving licence to prove they are over 18 – and also film a selfie video to show they are the ID holder.

The two-step verification scheme goes further than existing laws which require internet retailers to check the age of customers both when they order knives and when they are delivered.

• July 29, 2024: Shortly before midday, a knifeman enters a dance class at The Hart Space in Hart Street in Southport. Bebe, Elsie and Alice are fatally wounded. Eight other children are injured, as are instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Police say they have detained a male and seized a knife. Within hours, claims spread online that the suspect is an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat in 2023. Some claims include an alleged identity.
• July 30, 2024: In the evening, a peaceful vigil is held outside Southport’s Atkinson arts venue, where flowers are laid in memory of those who died. Shortly after the vigil, a separate protest begins outside the town’s mosque in St Luke’s Road. People throw items towards the mosque, property is damaged and police vehicles are set on fire.
• July 31, 2024: Demonstrators gather in Whitehall, London, for an ‘Enough Is Enough’ protest. Flares and cans are thrown at police and more than 100 people are arrested. Disorder also breaks out in Hartlepool, County Durham, and Aldershot, Hampshire.
• August 1, 2024: Police announce that Rudakubana has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. He is not named by police because of his age. He appears in court in Liverpool and Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC rules he can be named, following a request led by the Daily Mail, as he is due to turn 18 in a week. He initially smiled on entering the courtroom – then kept his face covered by his sweatshirt for the remainder of the proceedings before the case was adjourned. Later that evening, demonstrators gather outside a hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester.
• August 2, 2024: Three police officers are taken to hospital after disorder in Sunderland.
• August 3, 2024: There are scenes of violence during planned protests across the UK, including in Liverpool, Hull, Nottingham and Belfast.
• August 4, 2024: Disorder continues, including outside a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where masked demonstrators launch lengths of wood and sprayed fire extinguishers at police officers.
• August 5, 2024: The Government holds an emergency Cobra meeting in the wake of the disorder and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vows to ‘ramp up criminal justice’. That evening, a peaceful vigil is held in Southport, a week on from the killings. Police deal with disorder in Plymouth, Devon and Darlington, County Durham.
• August 7, 2024: Prison sentences for those involved in the unrest begin to be handed out. Derek Drummond, 58, is the first person to be jailed for violent disorder at Liverpool Crown Court, where he is sentenced to three years. More than 100 protests are planned for across the country, with counter-demonstrations taking place, but the majority of police forces report very little trouble.
• October 29, 2024: Merseyside Police announces Rudakubana will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court via videolink the next day charged with production of a biological toxin, Ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
• October 30, 2024: Rudakubana appears at Westminster Magistrates’ Court via videolink from HMP Belmarsh to face the two new charges. He holds his sweater over the bottom half of his face and does not respond when asked to confirm his name.
• November 13, 2024: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court via videolink. He covers his face with his grey sweatshirt and does not speak throughout the hearing. About 20 family members of victims sit in the public gallery. The case is adjourned until December 12, when a preparatory hearing will take place.
• January 20, 2025: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court for the first day of his trial where he pleads guilty to all 16 charges, including the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.

Triple child killer Axel Rudakubana was referred three times to the government’s deradicalisation scheme Prevent

One of the referrals is thought to follow concerns about Rudakubana’s potential interest in the killing of children in a school massacre, but it was deemed that there was no counter terrorism risk.

His behaviour, including his apparent interest in violence, was assessed by Prevent as potentially concerning.

But he was deemed not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology or pose a terrorist danger and was therefore not considered suitable for the counter-radicalisation scheme.

Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the Southport attack this summer, was first referred to Prevent in 2019 when he was 13.

Two more referrals were made in 2021, all when was a school child living in Lancashire.

Each time he was assessed as not being a counter terrorism risk and therefore not suitable for further investigation by the counter-radicalisation programme Channel, which handles Prevent referrals where there is a significant risk of that person being drawn into terrorism.

Let’s take a look at the child victims who were murdered by Axel Rudakubana as they attended a Taylor Swift themed dance school in Southport during the summer holidays.

Bebe was the youngest victim of the Southport murders at six years old.

In a statement issued by Merseyside Police, her parents Lauren and Ben said their daughter ‘was full of joy, light, and love, and she will always remain in our hearts as the sweet, kind, and spirited girl we adore’.

The family added: ‘On Monday the 29th of July, our world was shattered by the loss of our precious daughter Bebe. Along with two other beautiful souls, Elsie and Alice, she was taken from us in an unimaginable act of violence that has left our hearts broken beyond repair.

Elsie’s parents Jenni and Dave described her a ‘devoted Swiftie’ who loved to dance in a moving tribute at the time of the seven-year-old’s death.

In a statement, they said: ‘Elsie was an amazing little girl. She had the ability to light up any room that she entered, she was truly unforgettable.’

In October, it was reported her family had set up Elsie’s Story, a charitable trust in the spirit of their daughter’s ‘positivity, love for others and energy of life’.

The nine-year-old died from her injuries in hospital the day after the attack.

She was described by her parents Sergio and Alexandra as their ‘perfect dream child’ who loved animals and ‘moved our world’ with her ‘confidence and empathy’.

During a memorial service in which tributes were read out in English and Portuguese her parents walked into the service clutching a toy and their daughter’s ballet shoes.

Rudakubana pleaded guilty to a total of 16 charges at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.

The 18-year-old has admitted murdering Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar.

Rudakubana has also pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named as they were given anonymity, as well as class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes who intervened.

He bought the weapon from Amazon for £3.40 and used it during the attack.

One of two additional charges he received when the deadly poison was found during searches of the home he shared with his parents.

• Possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism

This charge was laid after a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, was discovered.

In August 2006, Axel Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to parents who moved to the UK from Rwanda four years previously.

He lived with his parents and elder brother in the Welsh capital for 11 years before they moved to Lancashire.

Described as ‘introverted’ as a child and ‘clingy’ with his mother, Rudakubana was billed as a stage school ‘superstar’ when he appeared as Doctor Who in a BBC Children in Need advert aged only 11.

But the first warning sign emerged just two years later when he burst into his school while barred from the premises for bringing in a knife and attacked pupils with a hockey stick.

The raging future killer was only disarmed after being bravely overpowered by a teacher.

The teenager developed a dark interest in extreme violence which saw him spend hours researching genocide and examining graphic murder videos.

One official said: ‘He was absolutely obsessed with genocides.

‘He could name every genocide in history and how many people were killed – Rwanda, Genghis Khan, Hitler. It’s all he wanted to talk about.’

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana unexpectedly changed his pleas to guilty on Monday as he was about to go on trial for the murders of three children and the attempted murder of eight others plus two adults.

The families of the victims were not present to see the teenager admit his guilt as they believed the trial was due to open fully on Tuesday.

Following his admission it emerged Rudakubana was referred to Prevent, the UK’s counter extremism programme, before he carried out the attack.

It was also reported he was planning Britain’s first high school massacre a week before the knife rampage – but was talked out of going to the building by his father.

Hours after the guity pleas were entered, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a public inquiry would take place to give the people of Southport answers about what happened leading up to the attack.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer then addressed the nation from Downing Street on Tuesday morning to warn Britain was facing a new terrorism threat from ‘loners and misfits’ as he vowed to bring in changes to protect children.

Police officers have been pictured arriving at Liverpool Crown Court ahead of Axel Rudakubana’s sentencing this morning.

Sadistic Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana is today due to receive a life sentence for the killings of three girls and attempts to murder 10 more people.

In what prosecutors described as a ‘meticulously-planned rampage’, the maniac wielded a knife as he savaged children at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance class in a crime which shocked the nation.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, all died and eight more children aged between seven and 13 suffered knife wounds, as did dance teacher Leanne Lucas while trying to protect the children.

Businessman John Hayes, who rushed to the scene from his office nearby and attempted to overpower Rudakubana, was also stabbed. Others nearby who heard screams also rushed to the scene and police arrived, bringing the horrific incident to an end.

In 12 minutes of mayhem, Rudakubana, wearing a green hooded top and surgical facemask, knifed as many children as he could, even pulling one girl back as she tried to flee. Ms Lucas’s fellow dance teacher Heidi Liddle hid in a toilet with one child.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as Axel Rudakubana is sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court over the Southport attacks.

Rudakubana, 18, has pleaded guilty to 16 charges including the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine as they attended a dance class on July 29 last year.

The murders triggered a wave of violence across the UK with unrest in several towns and cities which resulted in the arrests of 1,280 people. Nearly 500 were jailed.

Rudakubana’s sentencing is due to start at 11am.

Stick with us for live updates from throughout the hearing with Richard Marsden reporting from Liverpool Crown Court and Jamie Bullen from London.