Boy, 17, accused of murdering three girls in Southport attack is ‘quiet choirboy who was unwilling to leave his house’
2 August 2024, 08:21
The 17-year-old boy who is accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport was a ‘quiet’ choirboy who was ‘unwilling to leave the house or speak with his family’, a court has heard.
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Axel Rudakubana appeared in court on Thursday to face charges of multiple murders and attempted murders.
The teenager, who did not speak at his court appearance in Liverpool, had been diagnosed with autism and did not leave the house or speak with family ‘for a period of time’, the court was told.
Neighbours also claimed they repeatedly heard the teenager, originally from Cardiff, singing inside his home, The Mirror reports.
Another neighbour told the Liverpool Echo how he was known as the ‘quiet choirboy’ who lived with his parents and 20-year-old brother.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC described his medical condition, saying: “He has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. We understand he has been unwilling to leave the house and communicate with his family for a period of time.”
During the court hearing, Judge Andrew Menary also slammed the ‘idiotic rioting’ that had taken place since the Southport attack.
He said he lifted legal restrictions on Rudakubana being named to stop conspiracies from spreading. He told the court: “The idiotic rioting going on at the moment is, in part, fed by the nonsense online that feeds on the vacuum.”
It is understood Rudakubana will turn 18 next week.
“By continuing to prevent full reporting at this stage has the disadvantage of allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum and runs the risk that when the information becomes publicly available in six days' time, that will provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder,” the judge said.
“Allowing full reporting will undoubtedly remove some of the misreporting as to the identity of the defendant.”
The judge added: “The defendant Axel Rudakubana appears before me having been sent to this court earlier this morning by the Youth Court in respect of multiple charges of murder and attempted murder.
“The alleged offending in his case is shocking and could hardly be more serious, involving as it does the killing and serious wounding of multiple victims, most of whom were young children, in an incident in Southport on Monday 29 July 2024.”
Rudakubana was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff in 2006 before they moved to Banks in Lancashire in 2013.
He is accused of carrying out the attack which led to the deaths of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
He also stands accused of the attempted murder of eight more children, and dance teeacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
