By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin
LONDON (Reuters) – A British teenager on Monday pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event last July, one of Britain’s most shocking crimes this century that was followed by days of nationwide rioting.
On what was due to be the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, Axel Rudakubana, 18, surprised the judge, prosecutors and police by changing his pleas to guilty and admitting he carried out the killings in the northern English town of Southport last July.
He also pleaded guilty to 10 charges of attempted murder relating to the attack, as well as to producing the deadly poison ricin and the possession of an al Qaeda training manual.
“It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence. He has shown no signs of remorse,” said Ursula Doyle from Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service.
“This was an unspeakable attack, one which has left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness.”
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the incident, initially refused to speak when asked to confirm his name on Monday, as he had at all previous hearings which meant that “not guilty” pleas had been entered on his behalf in December.
But, after consulting with his lawyer, he confirmed he wished to change those pleas.
He admitted murdering Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, who were at an event being held for children in the summer vacation.
Doyle said he had carried out a “meticulously planned rampage” as the carefree, innocent children enjoyed a dance workshop and made friendship bracelets, turning it into a “scene of the darkest horror”.
Judge Julian Goose said he would sentence Rudakubana on Thursday and that a life jail term was inevitable.
The victims’ families were not present as the prosecution case was not expected to begin until Tuesday, but Doyle said the pleas had spared them the ordeal of a trial.
RIOTS
British-born Rudakubana was arrested shortly after the attack in the quiet seaside town north of the city of Liverpool. Despite the discovery of the al Qaeda manual, police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related, and his motive is unknown.
In the wake of the murders, large disturbances broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant.
The unrest spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer blaming the riots on far-right thuggery. More than 1,500 people were arrested.
The Guardian reported that Rudakubana, the son of devout Christians who had moved to Britain from Rwanda, had been referred three times to Prevent, the government scheme that aims to counter radicalisation.
The first occasion was because of concerns he was looking at online material about U.S. school massacres, and then because he was looking at information about past terrorist attacks. But it was assessed that, while his behaviour was a concern, he was not judged to be a terrorism risk, the paper said.
There was no immediate comment from Britain’s interior ministry.
In the aftermath of the horror which greeted his crimes, King Charles visited Southport to meet surviving children and their families while the monarch’s son Prince William and his wife Kate also travelled there to meet bereaved families.
Swift herself also expressed horror at the incident.
“These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families,” she said.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Kate Holton and Alex Richardson)
