Bio

Axel Muganwa Rudakubana was born on 7 August 2006 in Cardiff, Wales. His parents are Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire. They are Evangelical Christian Tutsi who moved to the United Kingdom from Rwanda in 2002. He has an older brother.

The family lived in the Thornhill area of Cardiff before moving to the Southport area in 2013. They settled in Banks, a large village on the north-eastern outskirts of Southport. Neighbours described him as quiet and unassuming.

Rudakubana took part in acting and musical theatre as a child. He took classes at the Pauline Quirke Academy. In 2018, when he was 11, he appeared in a BBC Children in Need promotional video dressed as the Tenth Doctor.

He attended Range High School in Formby from 2017. In 2019 he became known to officials because of anxiety, social isolation, and growing concerns about his behaviour. On 4 October 2019, aged 13, he contacted Childline and asked, "what should I do if I want to kill somebody?" He also said he wanted to kill someone who was bullying him at school.

After that period he was temporarily excluded from school and later expelled. From 17 October 2019 he attended The Acorns School in Ormskirk, a specialist education centre. During his admission meeting staff recorded a worrying reply when they asked why he had brought a weapon to his previous school.

In November 2019 he was referred to the Home Office anti-extremism programme Prevent for researching school shootings during an IT class. He was referred to Prevent two more times in early 2021, once in February for uploading images of Muammar Gaddafi to Instagram, and again in April after a teacher noticed internet tabs open researching the London Bridge attacks on a school computer. He was not accepted onto the Prevent scheme because officials said no terrorist ideology was identified.

Rudakubana was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in February 2021. Police and other services were involved with him several times over the following years because of various incidents at home and in public. From September 2022 he was enrolled for sixth form at Presfield High School & Specialist College in Churchtown, mostly via home visits by staff, who were sometimes accompanied by the police.

On 22 July 2024 he booked a taxi to take him to Range High School using a false name. He was wearing a green hoodie and a surgical mask. His father saw him, spoke to the taxi driver, and Rudakubana returned to the house.

Murder Story

On 29 July 2024, a mass stabbing targeting young girls occurred at the Hart Space, a dance studio in Meols Cop, Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom. Seventeen-year-old Axel Rudakubana killed three children and injured ten others at a Taylor Swift–themed yoga and dance workshop attended by 26 children. Two girls died at the scene, and a third girl died the following day. Several other children and two adults were taken to hospital in critical condition.

Rudakubana was arrested at the scene. He was charged with three counts of murder, ten counts of attempted murder, and possession of a bladed article. He was later separately charged under the Biological Weapons Act 1974 and the Terrorism Act 2000 for possession of ricin and for possessing a military study of an al‑Qaeda training manual. He pleaded guilty to all 16 charges on 20 January 2025, having initially entered a not-guilty plea. On 23 January 2025, Rudakubana was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 52 years.

No clear motive for the attack was identified. The prosecution suggested that the motivation could have been "the commission of mass murder as an end in itself" and concluded there was no evidence of terrorism in relation to the killings. After his guilty pleas, it emerged that he had a history of violent and concerning behaviour and had been referred to the Home Office anti‑extremism programme Prevent three times between 2019 and 2021, but he was not accepted into the scheme.

The day after the attack, false claims about the attacker’s identity spread online. Rioters clashed with police in Southport and damaged a mosque. Over the following days, mass anti‑immigration protests and riots spread to other towns and cities. Police made many arrests and reported officers injured during the unrest.

Government and public responses followed the case. The Prime Minister promised to overhaul terrorism laws to include non‑ideological acts of extreme violence and appointed David Anderson to lead a review of Prevent. A public inquiry was announced to examine what happened leading up to the attack. Officials also called for social media companies to remove violent content that had been accessed by Rudakubana.

The community held vigils and raised funds for the victims and their families. Large donations were made to hospitals and charities, and memorial events and services took place in the weeks after the attack. Local and national leaders offered condolences to the families of the victims.

Rudakubana has been held in a high‑security prison since his conviction. Authorities have kept him in segregation or a form of isolation for his own protection and to manage security. After his sentencing, his case continued to prompt reviews of policing, mental health, and prevention programmes.