British teenager pleads guilty to killing three girls in Southport knife attack | News about crime

The crime had horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide riots against migrants in August.

A British teenager has pleaded guilty to charges of killing three teenage girls in a knife attack in northern Britain in July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, changed his pleas from not guilty to guilty on what was to be the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.

He pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, 6; Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7; and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, who were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in Southport town on July 29, 2024.

Ten others were injured, including eight children, in one of the country’s worst mass stabbings in years.

Rudakubana also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted murder in connection with the attack, as well as manufacturing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual.

Judge Julian Goose said he would sentence Rudakubana on Thursday and that a life sentence was inevitable.

Wearing a gray tracksuit and a surgical mask, the teenager refused to stand in court and did not speak except to say the word “guilty”.

In December, not guilty pleas were entered on Rudakubana’s behalf when he refused to testify in court, and the case was set for a four-week trial.

Rudakubana was born in Wales to parents of Rwandan origin. He lived in Banks, a village north-east of Southport.

In the wake of the murders, major unrest broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a Muslim migrant.

These unrest spread across the UK with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer blaming the riots on the far right. More than 1,500 people were arrested.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that the coming days “will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the girls’ families”. But she said it was important for the legal process to be allowed to continue so “justice can be done”.