Ministers are “failing to learn the lessons” from the Southport attack and allowing violence-obsessed teenagers to remain a “catastrophic” threat to society, lawyers for victims have said ahead of the findings of an official inquiry.
A report by Sir Adrian Fulford, to be released on Monday, is expected to criticise failings by agencies including the counter-terrorism programme Prevent. The killer, Axel Rudakubana, was referred three times to Prevent but concerns were dismissed, partly because he lacked a clear ideology.
A Guardian analysis found that barely one in 10 of 3,400 cases highlighting concerns about extreme violence in children and teenagers received anti-radicalisation support in the year to March 2025. Chris Walker, solicitor for the families of the three murdered girls, said the system was “not fit for purpose”.
Official figures show nearly 300 Prevent referrals of primary school children with an intense interest in brutality but no clear ideology, and a further 3,000 referrals of teenagers. Only 11% of these were deemed suitable for the Channel programme, compared with 34% for right-wing extremism and 26% for Islamist extremism.
Britain’s top counter-terror officer, Laurence Taylor, warned last week that Prevent was being “overwhelmed” by referrals for those interested in violence without ideology. Last month, a 17-year-old “obsessed” with Rudakubana avoided jail after planning a copycat attack, despite two Prevent referrals.
Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, representing injured children, said the inquiry showed the need for a “serious shake up” to ensure a lack of ideology does not protect perpetrators. Nicola Brook, solicitor for adult survivors, said the state was failing to tackle those who “do not fit the terrorist mould”.
