Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been transferred from Belmarsh prison to Broadmoor psychiatric hospital after being deemed unable to be managed safely in prison. The 19-year-old, who murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, will serve the rest of his 52-year sentence at the high-security hospital.
Cost and Conditions
The move to Broadmoor will cost £300,000 a year, compared to £60,000 in prison. Offenders who present an increased risk due to mental disorders can be moved to secure psychiatric units, where they are treated as patients rather than prisoners.
Official Statement
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'The families of those murdered and injured in Southport will be in this country’s heart forever and our thoughts remain with them. Any decision to transfer an offender is made following an independent, clinical assessment, under the Mental Health Act. Following rigorous security checks, the offender has been transferred to a high-security psychiatric unit, where he will remain until assessed fit to return to prison. Officials have approved this transfer, on behalf of Ministers. This transfer does not change his sentence – which remains at 52 years – and of which he will serve every single day.'
Background
Rudakubana was given a life sentence for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults. In May last year, while at HMP Belmarsh, he allegedly attacked a prison officer with boiling water using a kettle in his cell. Broadmoor, in Berkshire, is the oldest of the UK’s three high-security hospitals and has held notorious criminals such as Peter Sutcliffe and Charles Bronson.
Union Reaction
Mark Fairhurst of the POA union told The Guardian: '[Rudakubana] is not mentally unwell. He is playing the system and is nothing more than evil. He should spend his entire sentence in solitary confinement staring at four walls. It is appalling to think that he will now enjoy all the freedoms a secure hospital is forced to give him and even more unjustified is the taxpayer actually paying him benefits because he is now classed as mentally unwell. It is POA members who will now have to carry out the wishes of those who think he can be cured. This is a sickening development and my thoughts are with the families of the victims and all those who have been affected by his atrocious crime.'
Under the Mental Health Act, officials acting for the Justice Secretary must accept the advice of clinical professionals to transfer prisoners to a secure facility. An offender in a secure hospital is compelled to engage with treatment and therapies before any return to prison or release. Where offenders no longer require treatment, the Act allows a swift return to prison.
