Southport stabbing latest: Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleads guilty to murder of three girls at Taylor Swift class

A profile of Axel Rudakubana’s father, printed in local newspaper the Southport Visiter in 2015 said he was originally from Rwanda, a country that suffered a deadly genocide in the early 1990s, and moved to the UK in 2002.

Rudakubana, the youngest son of the family, was born in Cardiff, where neighbours of the family described a “lovely couple” with a hardworking father and stay-at-home mother to “two boisterous boys”.

In 2013 they moved to Banks, just a few miles outside of Southport, where Rudakubana’s father trained with local martial arts clubs. The family lived in a mid-terrace three-bedroom house in a newly-built cul-de-sac of a dozen or so properties.

At 11 years old, Rudakubana appeared dressed as Doctor Who in a television advert for BBC Children In Need, after being recruited through a casting agency, it is understood.

The now-deleted clip shows him leaving the Tardis wearing a trench coat and tie to look like the show’s former star David Tennant and offering advice on how best to raise money.

It can now be reported that Axel Rudakubana’s teachers had concerns about his behaviour, and he was excluded from his secondary school for an incident involving a hockey stick.

The teenager, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, is believed to have left Range High School in Formby in around 2019, before moving to a specialist school, where teachers were reported to be concerned at his violence towards others.

At his first appearance at Liverpool Crown Court, Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said it was understood Rudakubana had been unwilling to leave the house and communicate with his family for a period of time.

While he was seen by the psychiatrists at the police station, he refused to engage with them, Ms Heer told the court, which heard that Rudakubana had no obvious evidence of mental health disorder which required diversion to hospital.

Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, confirmed that the families of Axel Rudakubana’s victims had not attended as it was assumed the trial would open on Tuesday.

Mr Justice Goose said: “I am conscious of the fact the families are not here today”, and said he extended his apologies to the families that “for that reason they weren’t here to hear him enter his pleas”.

Ms Heer said she would speak to them before the sentence on Thursday.

Judge Julian Goose told Axel Rudakubana that he would inevitably face a life sentence equivalent term.

After pleading guilty to all charges, the 18-year-old kept his head down towards his knees as the judge said to him: “You have now pleaded guilty to this indictment and to each of the charges upon it. The next stage is sentence. That will take place on Thursday at 11am.”

Telling Rudakubana to keep in touch with barristers, the judge added: “You will understand it is inevitable the sentence to be imposed upon you will mean a life sentence equivalent will be imposed upon you.

“I will have to complete the sentencing process on that on that occasion.”

The 18-year-old accused of killing three girls at a dance class in Southport has admitted the attack on the first day of his trial.

Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, was to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29.

The defendant, who was 17 at the time of the attack, admitted their murders as well as the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.