Southport child killer Axel Rudakubana received care from an NHS mental health service for four years prior to his knife attack, a hospital trust has said.
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool said in a statement that Rudakubana “stopped engaging” with their services in February 2023, having been looked after since 2019.
The 18-year-old was given a a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years on Thursday – one of the highest minimum terms on record – for murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a dance class in Southport on July 29 last year
He also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Axel Rudakubana was jailed (Merseyside Police/PA)
Rudakubana was twice ordered to leave the dock as he repeatedly interrupted his sentencing hearing by claiming to be ill, having not eaten for 10 days.
In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our thoughts remain with the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie and all those affected by the events of 29th July.
“We can confirm that Axel Rudakubana was under the care of Alder Hey Services including our Community Mental Health Service between 2019 and 2023.
“He had stopped engaging with the service in February 2023 despite continued offers of support.
“Following the terrible incident last July, we are participating fully in a Children’s Safeguarding Practice Review commissioned by the Children’s Safeguarding Partnership, to identify if any learnings could be made.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital services are to participate in a review (Peter Byrne/ PA)
“We welcome the announcement of an independent public inquiry and will fully co-operate and support that process.”
Three separate referrals were made to the Government’s anti-terror programme, Prevent, about Rudakubana’s behaviour in the years before the attack, as well as six separate calls to police.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a public inquiry would be held to look at any “missed opportunities” to identify Rudakubana’s murderous intent, and ordered a “thorough review” of the Prevent referrals.
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 and into class before he carried out the Southport murders.
Mark Winstanley, Assistant Chief Constable of Lancashire Police, said Rudakubana became known to a range of services in 2019, initially due to his increasing anxiety and social isolation.
This then developed into some “challenging behaviours” that prompted police involvement from 2019 to 2022.
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.