Axel Rudakubana, who is serving a life sentence for the murders of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in 2024, has been charged with multiple assaults on prison staff, police have said. The Southport killer, now 19, is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 11 September.
What is he accused of?
The Metropolitan police said on Friday that Rudakubana has been charged with attempted grievous bodily harm relating to an incident in May 2025 and assault on an emergency worker two days earlier. He is also charged with possession of an offensive weapon in prison and assault on an emergency worker.
Rudakubana, then 17, launched a frenzied knife attack in Southport, north-west England, on 29 July 2024, killing Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
He also wounded 10 others in the attack, which was followed by days of rioting across the country. He was jailed for a minimum of 52 years after he admitted the killings shortly before trial last year.
Why was he moved to Broadmoor?
Rudakubana was recently moved from prison to the Broadmoor top security psychiatric hospital after it was concluded he could not be managed safely in a prison environment. The families of the three girls described the move as an attempt
“to manipulate the system”.
