Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been charged with producing a lethal toxin and possessing an Al-Qaeda manual.
A teenager accused of killing three girls with a knife at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northwest England appeared in court on Wednesday to face new poison and terror charges.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, who faces charges of murdering three girls and stabbing 10 other people on 29 July in the town of Southport, has also been charged with producing a lethal toxin called ricin and possessing terrorist material.
Rudakubana, who appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court by video link from Belmarsh prison in south London, refused to speak or answer any questions.
“Mr. Rudakubana has remained silent at previous hearings as well,” defence lawyer Stan Reiz said. “For reasons of his own he has chosen not to answer the question.”
Speaking at a press conference, Merseyside police said they had found the poison ricin at Rudakubana’s house during a search after his initial arrest, as well as an al-Qaeda training manual on his laptop entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants”.
Rudakubana had been charged in August with three counts of murder in the deaths of nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and six-year-old Bebe King, as well as the attempted murder of 10 other people, including eight children.
Rudakubana was apprehended at the scene after the stabbings. Leanne Lucas, who led the class, and John Hayes, who worked in a business nearby and ran to help, were credited by police for trying to protect the children.
Allegations of a ‘cover-up’
In the aftermath of the murders, far-right activists took to social media and falsely identified the attacker as an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK by crossing the channel in a dinghy. The attacker’s identity was not public at the time.
The misinformation sparked riots, which erupted soon after a peaceful community vigil to mourn the victims in Southport took place on 30 July. Rioters attacked a mosque near the dance studio where the stabbings took place and tossed bricks and beer bottles at police officers, before setting fire to a police van.
The violent unrest then spread across England and Northern Ireland, lasting a week. They targeted Muslim areas and hotels purportedly housing refugees and asylum seekers. More than 50 police officers were injured, some seriously.
British police later said that Rudakubana had been born in Wales to Rwandan parents, while local media reported that he was raised Christian.
More than 1,200 people were arrested for taking part in the violent disorder and spreading disinformation to stoke violence. The recently elected Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed rioters directly, saying: “I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder”. So far, 20 people have been jailed for their part in the unrest.
Merseyside Police chief constable Serena Kennedy said on Tuesday that the murder of the three girls is not being treated as a terrorist incident, and urged people not to speculate about motivations in the case or the alleged offences.
Following the fresh charging decisions, the two candidates for the leadership of the opposition Conservative Party questioned whether a “cover-up” had taken place over the new terrorism charge and demanded answers from the government.
Robert Jenrick suggested authorities had “concealed” information from the public, while his rival Kemi Badenoch said there are “serious questions to be asked of the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and also of Keir Starmer’s response”.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “It is important that we let the police and CPS do their jobs and for a trial to establish the facts.”
On the weekend before the new charges were announced, thousands of protesters gathered in central London in support of Tommy Robinson, a prominent far-right activist who is accused of spreading misinformation leading to the riots and who was jailed on Monday for contempt of court on separate charges.
Protestors also held placards emblazoned with the face of Peter Lynch, who died in prison on 19 October, after being jailed for leading a violent mob to a hotel housing asylum seekers and hurling racist abuse at police. Lynch had suffered a heart attack earlier in the year and had diabetes.
