The teenager accused of murdering three girls in Southport in July is now facing two further charges. Axel Rudakubana, 18, already faces three charges of murder, 10 charges of attempted murder and one charge of possession of a knife. But today the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that he has also been charged with the possession of an al-Qaeda training manual and production of the poison ricin.
Rudakubana is due to appear tomorrow at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, with his trial expected to begin in January. Both the ricin and the study of the training manual were found as part of searches of the suspect’s house in the Lancashire village of Banks following the stabbing. Serena Kennedy, Merseyside Police chief constable, said the murder of the three girls in July is not being treated as a terrorist incident. She told a press conference:
At this time, Counter Terrorism Policing has not declared the attack on Monday 29 July a terrorist incident. I recognise that the new charges, may lead to speculation. The matter for which Axel Rudakubana has been charged with under the Terrorism Act does not require motive to be established. For a matter to be declared a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established.
With contempt of court now active, the public is being urged not to speculate on the suspect’s motives. Political reaction was nevertheless swift following the announcement by the CPS earlier today. Downing Street said the Prime Minister’s thoughts were with the families of the victims of the Southport attack. ‘The government is focused on ensuring the families and all those affected receive justice’, declared a No. 10 spokesman.
Both Conservative leadership candidates opted to release in response to the charging decisions. Robert Jenrick said that while the ‘legal process needs to be respected’ he is ‘seriously concerned that facts may have been withheld from the public here.’ Kemi Badenoch meanwhile called for ‘appropriate scrutiny’ adding that it is ‘quite clear that there are serious questions to be asked of the police, the CPS and also of Keir Starmer’s response to the whole situation.’
