Damning new claim emerges over how Axel Rudakubana could have killed three young men in tragic Southport attack

An Interior Ministry review has uncovered serious flaws in Axel Rudakubana’s handling of counter-terrorism policing.

Despite multiple references to the government’s anti-terrorism program, Prevent, Rudakubana’s growing obsession with mass violence was not adequately addressed, a report drafted into the case reveals.

Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to the brutal murders of Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, Bebe King, 6, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, in a knife attack described as ‘pure evil’.

Eight other children and two adults were also injured. This week he was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years.

The Prevent scheme, part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, aims to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

The Home Office review, which will be published in redacted form, found that counterterrorism officials did not adequately assess Rudakubana’s growing interest in extreme violence.

Despite a history of concerning behavior, including bringing a knife to school and attacking a fellow student, he was repeatedly referred to the Prevent Program between 2019 and 2021, but each time officers concluded he did not pose a threat.

The PREVIT program, which is administered locally by police and authorities, first received concerns about Rudakubana’s behavior in 2019.

Authorities may have missed several attempts to arrest Rudakubana before he murdered three children and attempted to murder eight other youths and two adults in Blackpool last summer when he was just 17.

A prison van containing Rudakubana arriving at Liverpool Crown for his sentencing

Teachers at Range High School in Formby reported that he had shown an unusual interest in school shootings and mass violence, including disturbing news articles about attacks in the United States.

But counterterrorism officials dismissed the warning, believing it was simply a strange interest in current affairs rather than an indicator of radicalization.

Last year, 162 people were referred to prevent concerns about their interest in school massacres, according to the Home Office.

A source familiar with the review told The Sunday Times: ‘He was constantly trying to talk to his teachers about world events.

‘He was looking at news articles about mass shootings during IT class and trying to talk to his teacher about it. It was strange behavior for such a young boy.

“Counterterrorism officers decided he had an interest in news and current affairs, but was not in danger of being radicalized.”

Despite the fact that officers had been briefed on his interests in the London Bridge attack, the IRA, MI5 and the Middle East, Radakubana prevention officers closed in 2019.

Axel Rudakubana, pictured during an earlier hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, is being sentenced today

Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was one of three girls killed in the attack in Southport

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, was one of three children killed in Southport knife attack

They decided that, while it had vulnerabilities, these services were being addressed by other services, such as social care and mental health professionals.

The case was not referred to Channel, the next stage of the Previe programme, which would have provided him with a mentor to intervene and steer him away from extremism.

The situation worsened in December 2019, when Rudakubana attacked a schoolmate with a hockey stick, breaking the boy’s wrist.

The police discovered a knife in her bag, but despite this alarming escalation, the PREVE program still failed to act decisively.

Additional references were made in 2021, but each time, Rudakubana’s obsession with violent events was downplayed.

Yvette Cooper, the Secretary of the Interior, has acknowledged concerns about the current state of the PREVE program.

He recently stated that a review of benchmark thresholds, particularly for people obsessed with school massacres, was underway.

Yvette Cooper, the Secretary of the Interior, has acknowledged concerns about the current state of the PREVE program

In 2023, a significant increase in references related to mass shootings and extremist material online was reported, with many references involving young people whose ideologies were unclear but who showed a dangerous fixation on violence.

Cooper also stressed that interventions should not be delayed for people suspected of being neurodiverse, like Rudakubana, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

She criticized delays in responses to such cases, warning that failure to intervene could allow dangerous ideologies to take hold.

One of Rudakubana’s former classmates described him as socially isolated, with no friends and a tendency to avoid interactions with girls.

“He didn’t fit in. Nobody wanted to play with him during the break,” they said.

Prevent the fact that ACT is not an isolated case. Rudakubana’s case follows other high-profile cases in which people involved with the program later carried out violent acts, including the 2020 Reading stabbing and the 2021 murder of Sir David Amess MP.

Critics argue that prevention’s failure to adequately evaluate such cases points to systemic problems within the program.

The Home Office, while acknowledging that improvements have been made to prevent since Rudakubana’s referrals, admitted that “opportunities to intervene” were missed in his case.

Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, also expressed concern about the rise of young people turning to extremism online, warning that too many cases are slipping through the net.

Avoid having officials insist that changes have been made since the Rudakubana case, with new training and stronger policies for repeat referrals.

However, the review highlights the continuing challenge of dealing with young people obsessed with violence but without a clear ideological agenda.

The Home Office has confirmed that a full public inquiry into the Rudakubana case is underway, as officials seek to understand what went wrong and ensure similar failures are not repeated.

The National Crime Agency has been approached for comment.