Axel Rudakubana: The Cardiff boy who became a triple killer

The last-minute change of plea by Cardiff-born Axel Rudakubana to the murders of three young girls in Southport has put the spotlight back on the horrific crime of the 18 year old and his upbringing.

You can see here our live reporting as the teenager dramatically changed his plea before the start of what would have been his trial for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven at a Taylor Swift-themed danced class in Southport. He also admitted ten counts of attempted murder. ight other children suffered knife wounds and two adults were critically injured.

The Cardiff born teenager was the youngest of two boys, to Rwandan parents, and had a background in musical theatre having joined a talent agency at 11. He subsequently starred as Doctor Who in a now deleted BBC Children In Need advert and was also said to have appeared in a musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End.

Rudakubana's parents had moved to Cardiff four years before he was born after leaving Rwanda in the hope of a better life.

Whilst living in Cardiff he attended karate classes with his father and pursued his passions for musical theatre. Those who knew the family when they lived in a rental property in Thornhill have previously spoke of their shock at what happened, saying they were a normal quiet family with two boys who never caused any trouble.

Helen, a neighbour of the family while they lived there, told the BBC of her shock, adding: “They were a lovely young couple. They were little boys, they were boisterous. Mum was a stay-at-home mum, Dad was nice, he went to work every day. They had a small family car, a little hatchback.”

As a child, Rudakubana was different to his musical theatre peers and has been described as an introvert who was small for his age. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here

In 2013, Rudakubana and his family moved to the village of Banks in Lancashire, a few miles outside of Southport, where they lived in a semi-detached mid-terrace three-bedroom house in a quiet cul-de-sac and were said to be heavily involved in the local church.

It can now be reported teachers had expressed concerns about Rudukubana's behaviour and his violence towards others. During secondary school he was excluded for an incident involving a hockey stick and the then-teenager was moved from Range High School in Formby to a specialist school in the borough of Sefton in 2019 where he was described as a recluse.

The Guardian has also reported that he was three times to Prevent, the government’s scheme to stop terrorist violence. One of the referrals, the newspaper said, followed concerns he had an interest in the killing of children in a school massacre. Prevent is the official national programme to identify those feared to be falling for terrorist ideologies.

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. She said: “He was seen by the psychiatrists at the police station but refused to engage with them.”

The court was told he had no obvious evidence of mental health disorder which required diversion to hospital.

Rudakubana, who was autistic, was under the supervision of social services who insisted on attending meetings with the teenager with a police officer. In the weeks before the fatal attack police cars were seen multiple times outside his family home.

The Guardian has now revealed Rudukubana briefly came to the attention of counter-terrorism officials but they concluded he did not pose a risk of supporting terrorism r carrying out acts of violence in support of any cause.

The Guardian reported the teenager developed a deep and dark interest in extreme violence which led to him spending hours researching genocide and watching graphic videos of murder to the point of obsession. This obsession meant he could name any every genocide in history and how many were killed as a result.

Rudakubana's neighbours rarely saw him but on the morning of the attack, the lesser seen 17-year-old was spotted wandering around at 6am. As the day went on he was spotted "pacing up and down" outside his home which raised concern amongst neighbours.