The Home Office has proposed new restrictions on access to natural materials used to produce toxic substances ricin and abrin, following recommendations from the Southport Inquiry. The proposals aim to reduce the risk of these materials being used to cause harm.
Police discovered enough ricin to kill 12,000 people in Axel Rudakubana's home. The then 17-year-old had purchased materials years before the attack in July 2024, when he launched a knife attack on a Taylor Swift-themed workshop in Southport, killing Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.
Discovery of ricin in Rudakubana's bedroom
Searches of the Rudakubana family home began the same afternoon as the attack on July 29, but were halted the following day after the discovery of a Tupperware box underneath his bed containing a then unknown substance. This was later confirmed to be ricin, a potentially fatal toxin produced using castor beans, 150 of which he had purchased online in early 2022.
According to experts, this quantity would have been enough to produce up to five lethal doses via ingestion. It also had the potential to kill between 1,500 and 7,600 via injection, or up to 12,690 through inhalation after a "further purification process". Around the same time, he had also bought a pestle and mortar, two funnels and a scientific flask from Amazon. These items were all seized from his bedroom alongside a machete, a set of arrows and a number of bottles with matches attached to them.
Government proposals to tighten the law
Last year saw the conclusion of the first phase of the Southport Inquiry, which made a series of recommendations including greater regulation on the availability of castor beans. Ricin and abrin are both controlled under UK law due to their extreme toxicity, but the seeds used to produce the dangerous chemicals can be bought for use in gardening and decoration.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: "Protecting the public is our first duty. While these substances can have legitimate uses, we must stop them from being weaponised by those who want to cause harm. We will close the gaps exposed by the Southport attack and tighten the law to stop these dangerous chemicals falling into the wrong hands."
As part of the proposal, the government is also seeking to make it harder for people to access other dangerous poisons and chemicals used to make explosives and pose risks to national security. This would make it harder for people to buy these substances without a licence and require shops and businesses to report any suspicious transactions.
Consultation launched on proposed changes
These changes will be subject to public consultation which will run for six weeks. A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "The proposed changes come under the Poisons Act 1972, which controls poisons and explosives precursors, restricting the general public’s access to the most dangerous materials. In certain circumstances, people can apply for a licence to buy and use a regulated substance if they have a genuine need for it and there is no safer alternative. The changes will be subject to a consultation which has launched today. It seeks views from the public, industry and business to gauge how these changes would affect them."
