A British teenager has pleaded guilty to the murders of the girls who sparked the riots

A teenager pleaded guilty on Monday to the “unspeakable” murders of three young girls in a knife attack last year that sparked Britain’s worst riots in a decade.

On the opening day of the trial, 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three girls during Taylor Swift’s dance class in Southport, north-west England.

The July stabbings rocked the UK, sparking riots and riots in more than a dozen English and Northern Irish towns, including Southport and Liverpool.

Authorities blamed far-right agitators for fueling the violence, including by spreading misinformation that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. Rudakubana was actually born in Cardiff, Wales to a family of Rwandan descent and lived in Banksy, a village north-east of Southport.

Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, were killed in the attack at a seaside resort near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.

A British teenager has pleaded guilty to the murders of the girls who sparked the riots

Ten others were injured, including eight children, in one of the country’s worst mass shootings in decades. “This was an unspeakable attack which has left an indelible mark on our community and nation with its brutality and senselessness,” Ursula Doyle of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said outside court.

“At the start of the school holidays, a day that should have been one of carefree innocence; children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets became a scene of the darkest horror when Axel Rudakubana carried out his carefully planned rampage,” she said. said “He was clearly a young man with a terrible and abiding interest in death and violence. He showed no signs of remorse,” she added.

Rudakubana pleaded guilty to a total of 16 charges, including three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a blade. He also admitted to producing the biological toxin, ricin, and possessing a training manual for al-Qaeda, although the attack was not considered a terrorist attack.

Dressed in a gray tracksuit and surgical mask, the teenager refused to stand trial and did not speak except for the word “guilty” when he was charged.

Anxiety about violence

Postponing the case for sentencing on Thursday, the judge warned Rudakuban that he could face a long prison term.

Britain’s Press Association reported that while neighbors described him and his family as unremarkable, teachers were concerned about his behavior.

The teenager, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, had previously been suspended from school over a hockey stick incident, the agency added.

Teachers at the special school he attended were also concerned about his violence towards others, it said. Although he was 17 at the time of the murder, child protection restrictions on reporting Rudakubana’s name were lifted in August due to concerns about the spread of misinformation and his upcoming 18th birthday.

Tribute

Taylor Swift, who was in the middle of her Eras tour at the time, wrote on Instagram that she was “in total shock” after the dance class attack.

The pop star reportedly met two survivors of the attack during her London shows in August.

Britain’s head of state, King Charles III, also visited Southport in August to meet survivors after viewing a sea of flowers laid outside the town’s town hall. His eldest son Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, also visited the city in October “to show support for the local community”.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said before the guilty plea that the coming days “will be a very traumatic and distressing time for the families”. But she added that it was important that the legal process took its course so that “justice could be served.” Police have previously warned against fueling rumors by publicly speculating about any possible motive. Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy urged people to be patient and “not to believe everything you read on social media”.

Agence France-Presse