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Southport girls’ killer charged with attacking prison staff

By Thomson Reuters Jul 31, 2026 | 5:11 AM

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) – A British teenager serving life in prison for the murders of three young girls ​at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event ‌in 2024 has been charged with multiple assaults on prison staff, police said on Friday.

Axel Rudakubana, then 17, launched a frenzied knife ‌attack ​in northern England’s Southport ⁠on July 29, 2024, ⁠killing Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.

Rudakubana also wounded 10 others in the ​attack, which was followed by days of nationwide rioting. He was jailed ⁠for a minimum of ⁠52 years after he admitted ​the killings shortly before trial last year.

Rudakubana, now ​19, has been charged with attempted ‌grievous bodily harm relating to an incident in May 2025 and assault on an emergency worker two days earlier, the ⁠Metropolitan Police said.

He is also charged with possession of an offensive weapon in prison and ⁠assault on ‌an emergency worker and will ⁠appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ ​Court ‌on September 11.

Rudakubana was recently ​moved from ⁠prison to the Broadmoor top security psychiatric hospital, which was described by the three girls’ families as an attempt “to manipulate the system”.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by ​Sarah Young)