Southport killer Axel Rudakubana transferred to psychiatric hospital
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been transferred from prison to Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
Officials approved the transfer on behalf of ministers, but a spokesperson for the department stressed it does not alter his 52-year sentence.
Next Wednesday marks two years since Rudakubana carried out an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 2024, killing three girls.
The move to Broadmoor high security hospital from the category A prison Belmarsh was first reported by the Guardian on Thursday.
Offenders who present an increased risk, and cannot be managed safely in a prison environment because of mental disorders, can be moved to secure psychiatric units.
People in these units are treated as patients rather than prisoners.
Patients in secure hospital units cost more than £300,000 each a year, compared to around £60,000 for other prisoners, Whitehall sources told the Guardian.
The MOJ 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.”
Rudakubana, now 19, 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, Rudakubana allegedly attacked a prison officer with boiling water using a kettle in his cell.
In the years before the attack on the Southport dance class, three separate referrals were made to the Government’s anti-terror programme, Prevent, about Rudakubana’s behaviour, as well as six separate calls to police.
Rudakubana attacked a pupil with a hockey stick, used school computers to look up the London Bridge terror outrage and carried a knife on a bus.
Knives, archery arrows and ricin, a biological toxin 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide, were found when police raided Rudakubana’s home after the attack, with evidence suggesting the equipment needed for the substance was bought in 2022.
Alder Hey children’s NHS foundation in Liverpool previously confirmed he received NHS mental health care between 2019 and 2023, when he “stopped engaging”.
Broadmoor, in Berkshire, is the oldest of the UK’s three high-security hospitals and has held some of the UK’s most high-profile criminals, including Ronnie Kray and serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper.
Under the Mental Health Act, officials acting for the Justice Secretary have no choice but to accept the advice of clinical professionals to transfer prisoners to a secure facility.
An offender in a secure hospital will be compelled to engage with treatment and to undertake therapies before any return to prison or release into the community.
Where offenders no longer require treatment in hospital, the Act allows a swift return to prison.
Published: by Radio NewsHub