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A judge has ruled that the identity of the suspect in the Southport knife attack that left three young girls dead can be revealed.
Despite suspects accused of crimes allegedly committed under the age of 18 rarely being identified, Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC ruled on Thursday that the suspect in Monday’s attack can be named as Axel Rudakubana.
Merseyside Police had previously disclosed that the suspect was a 17-year-old who was living in the Lancashire village of Banks and had been born in Cardiff.
That disclosure on Tuesday was an attempt to counter misinformation about the suspect’s identity which were circulating online, falsely claiming he had arrived in the UK on a small boat in 2023 – in claims which fuelled a far-right riot in Southport later that evening.
UK laws restrict the reporting of a minor’s identity at least until court proceedings against them have begun.
But with the suspect due to turn 18 next week, the judge chose on Thursday to lift reporting restrictions, telling the court: “Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum.”
Born to Rwandan parents, the Liverpool Echo reported neighbours as saying that the family are “heavily involved with the local church”, and that they would often hear singing from their house.
The family reportedly moved to the Southport area around 2013 and lived in a semi-detached property in a quiet cul-de-sac. “There were no problems while they were living here,” one neighbour who described Rudakubana’s parents “friendly” told the Daily Telegraph.
The Times also reported that Rudakubana has a background in musical theatre, with a friend from his musical theatre group saying he “turned up one day in class, and they said ‘make him welcome, because he’s just moved from quite far away”’.
“I think it was more him trying to branch out and meet kids in the community ... he was enjoying it but you know, with musical theatre kids ... they’re very extroverted, he wasn’t, he was very quiet,” the friend said. “He didn’t really talk about himself that much.”
The 17-year-old was further remanded in youth detention accommodation after appearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, following the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday.
Earlier on Thursday, the defendant had appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit and black slippers during a brief hearing at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.
He looked at the row of reporters sat behind the glass dock before he was asked to sit down. He then used his left hand to pull his sweatshirt over his face and kept his head low during the five-minute hearing, in which he did not speak.
A provisional trial date, lasting six weeks, was scheduled for January 20, next year.
