A teenager has admitted to the crimes of a knife attack that killed three girls and injured ten others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer. The 18-year-old, Axel Rudakubana, pleaded guilty at the start of his trial in Liverpool Criminal Court on Monday morning (Monday night Australian Eastern Time).
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02-13, 2025Rudakubana admitted to three counts of murder, ten counts of attempted murder, and other charges related to possessing the poison ricin and owning an al-Qaeda manual. Following the July 29th attack, a week of riots broke out in parts of England and Northern Ireland after the suspect was wrongly identified as an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK by boat. In reality, he was born in Wales.
The judge stated that Rudakubana is facing a life sentence at his sentencing on Thursday. Defense lawyer Stanley Reiz said he would provide the judge with information about Rudakubana's mental health, which may be relevant to the sentencing. Rudakubana refused to speak in court and again declined to identify himself at the start of the trial.
Prosecutors have not stated what they believe motivated the attack. In the subsequent riots, violent mobs, largely mobilized on social media by far-right activists, attacked mosques and hotels housing migrants, threw beer bottles, rocks and other weapons at police, and set fire to cars as they clashed with police in dozens of cities. Over 1200 people were arrested for the riots, and hundreds were sentenced to up to nine years in prison.
Rudakubana, born in Wales to parents who were immigrants from Rwanda, admitted to the murders that resulted in the deaths of nine-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stankom, and six-year-old Bebe King. Eight other girls, aged between 7 and 13, were injured, as were teacher Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes, an employee of a neighboring business who intervened. Fifteen other girls as young as five were in the class but were not injured.
Months after his arrest, Rudakubana was charged with additional offenses, including producing the biological toxin ricin, and possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism for having the manual in files on his computer. Police have stated that the attack has not been classified as an act of terrorism, as the motive is still unclear.
