Southport killer Axel Rudakubana's anti-terror referral 'closed prematurely', review finds

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana's anti-terror case should have been kept open, a review into his attacks has found.

Following the killings in Southport last summer, a rapid review was launched into Rudakubana's contact with Prevent - a government strategy aimed at stopping people from becoming terrorists.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis repeated that Rudakubana was in contact three times before his attacks at a Taylor Swift dance class where three young girls were murdered.

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He added that the report found Rudakubana should have been referred to Channel, another anti-terror scheme.

Mr Jarvis said: "The review concluded that too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology, to the detriment of considering the perpetrator's susceptibility, grievances, and complex needs.

"There was an under-exploration of the significance of his repeat referrals and the cumulative risk, including his history of violence.

"There were potentially incomplete lines of inquiry, that at the time the perpetrator could have fallen into a mixed, unclear or unstable category for Channel due to his potential interest in mass violence.

"Indeed, the overall conclusion of the review is that he should have been case-managed through the Channel multi-agency process, rather than closed to Prevent."

He said the review found Rudakubana's referral to Prevent was "closed prematurely", and there was "sufficient concern to keep the case active while further information was collected".

The review noted Rudakubana was referred to Prevent on three occasions: first in December 2019 when he was 13, again in February 2021 when he was 14, and finally in April 2021.

The first report was due to concerns he was carrying a knife and searching for school shootings online.

The second was for online activity relating to Libya and Colonel Gaddafi, and the third for searching for London bombings, the IRA and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"On each of these occasions, the decision at the time was that the perpetrator should not progress to the Channel multi-agency process," Mr Jarvis said.

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The report highlighted that in the second referral, Rudakubana's name was spelt differently from the first.

It then says a Prevent supervisor was unable to find the previous referral and "this may have caused the case to be closed quickly on minimal information".

As part of the review, 14 recommendations were made on how to improve Prevent, which Mr Jarvis said they had accepted and would be implementing.

Mr Jarvis said the government was working to set up an inquiry into what happened as soon as possible, although confirmed it would not initially be on a statutory footing.

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Sir Peter Fahy, the former national lead of Prevent said the report showed "the complexities of what we're dealing with now".

He said: "It shows that part of the challenge was to try to work out did this guy have an ideology. The public might think that's a very specific point but the Prevent programme is based on counterterrorism.

"For terrorism, you need to have an ideology behind your act of violence. This report says they should have looked closer at that and should have perhaps termed it as an unclear or mixed ideology.

"The report also shows the challenges of the overlap with mental health and autism. The only positive thing is that there will be a public inquiry that will look into these issues in greater depth."

He added: "The report shows the complexity of trying to assess people and whether they are going to take their perverted ideas and issues into more serious violence.

"This is an absolute tragedy and I know the officers involved and the wider counter terrorism network will be really, really upset that this guy got through the net and they weren't able to prevent the horrific attack he carried out."

(c) Sky News 2025: Southport killer Axel Rudakubana's anti-terror referral 'closed prematurely', review finds