Tuesday, January 21, 2025 - Southport teen, Axel Rudakubana, today, Jan. 20, admitted murder, possessing an Al Qaeda terror manual and making the biological weapon Ricin.
The teenager has 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.
He finally admitted murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe
King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7.
Rudakubana took their lives after he stormed a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at The Hart Space in Southport armed with a knife shortly before midday on July 29, 2024.
He also admitted the attempted murd£r of eight other
children, who can't be named for legal reasons, and the class instructor Leanne
Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Axel, the son of a refugee from Rwanda, who was born in
the UK, also pleaded guilty to possession of a knife on the day of the
attack, production of a biological toxin - ricin - on or before July 29, and
possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or
preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
The terrorism offence Rudakubana admitted relates to a PDF
file entitled "Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al
Qaeda Training Manual," which he is said to have possessed between August
29, 2021 and July 30 last year.
But his shock guilty pleas denied the families of the
children he murd£red - and the others he tried to kill - the chance to be in
the room at Liverpool Crown Court to hear him admit his guilt.
Today's hearing was expected to deal with legal matters
before the start of a four to six-week trial opening in front of a jury
tomorrow. But it lasted little more than 15 minutes when his barrister
suddenly. He will be sentenced on Thursday, Jan. 23.
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