Teenager Who Plotted Copycat Southport Attack Avoids Custodial Sentence
A teenager who developed an obsession with Southport killer Axel Rudakubana and planned to execute a copycat attack on the anniversary of his atrocity has avoided a custodial sentence. The boy, now aged 17, called emergency services in August last year declaring his intention to re-enact Axel, having gathered four knives and purchased a green hoodie similar to one worn by the murderer, Liverpool Crown Court was told.
Disturbing Admiration for a Killer
The white teenager described Rudakubana as the black version of me and informed a contact on TikTok: 77 days until Axel 2. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of possessing information likely to be useful to a person planning or committing an act of terrorism. Documents discovered on his phone included an Al Qaida training manual, which was also possessed by Rudakubana, and instructions for preparing ricin, the poison found in the Southport killer's home following his attack.
Judge Neil Flewitt KC informed the court it had been a difficult decision as he sentenced the boy to a youth rehabilitation order lasting three years, providing intensive supervision and surveillance. He was also made subject to a three-year criminal behaviour order. The judge stated: I think that a youth rehabilitation order will be more helpful to you and will provide more protection for the public than keeping on in custody.
Background of the Southport Atrocity
Axel Rudakubana was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Stancombe, seven, and Alice Aguiar, nine, whom he stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance holiday club on July 29, 2024. The court heard the defendant, from Merseyside, described himself as an axelcel, referencing the term incel (involuntary celibate) and Rudakubana.
In December last year, while in custody after his arrest, the boy was recorded stating that upon release he would go into a primary school and target little girls as his first victims. The white teenager appeared to laugh and placed his head in his hands as Adam Birkby, prosecuting, read out a note from the boy's phone describing Rudakubana as a hero.
Detailed Planning and Ideological Influences
The note expressed: I love him. He's the one person I look up to. I felt like he was speaking to me. I felt like all these isolated incidents were speaking to me to act up. He was me. He is the black version of me. The court learned that the boy, then aged 16, told a 999 operator on August 6 last year he had planned to re-enact the Southport attack on its first anniversary but could not find a suitable event near his home.
He confessed the idea of violence captivated him and he had watched numerous ISIS videos. When police visited his residence, he discussed plans for a mass casualty attack and his admiration for Rudakubana, who shared an interest in genocides and that. Mr Birkby revealed the teenager visited Southport in May last year and messaged a TikTok contact: 77 days until Axel 2.
He also researched other killers, including Nicholas Prosper, who murdered his mother and siblings in Luton in September 2024. The boy referred to himself as a spergcel, indicating his inceldom was partly linked to Asperger's syndrome. He was twice referred to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme.
Mental Health and Previous Interventions
In 2021, after his school raised concerns, a panel concluded his behaviour was driven by autism rather than ideological motivation, as he retracted racist comments made in anger and denied supporting the Islamic State group. He was referred again in May last year after expressing a desire to revert to Islam and discussing the Southport stabbings and Manchester Arena bombing. His referral was still being processed at the time of his arrest.
In June that year, he told a friend on TikTok about the referral, hoping his case would be closed like Rudakubana's with no clear ideology. Philip Astbury, defending, explained the defendant had been struggling with his mental health and spent excessive time at a computer terminal before the incident. A charge of making a threat to kill was ordered to lie on the file.
Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's counter-terrorism division, commented: This was a deeply concerning case involving a young person who had been drawn towards extreme and violent ideology, with the potential for very serious harm.
