Southport killer was under NHS mental health care

Axel Rudakubana had stopped engaging with mental health services, an Alder Hey spokesperson said

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was under the care of an NHS mental health service for about four years before he "stopped engaging", a hospital trust has said.

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust confirmed he had been under its care between 2019 and 2023.

Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attack in July 2024, was jailed for 52 years for the "sadistic" murders of three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.

A trust spokesperson said it welcomed the independent public inquiry announced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday, which will look at failures to identify the risk Rudakubana posed.

Rudakubana was captured on CCTV walking to a bus stop to meet a taxi before the attack

The trust said Rudakubana, from Banks in west Lancashire, had stopped engaging with its service in February 2023, despite continued offers of support.

The spokesperson said: "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."

Welcoming the separate public inquiry, the spokesperson said the trust would "fully co-operate and support that process".

"We are not in a position to provide any further details that could potentially prejudice that inquiry and will be making no further comment at this time," they added.

The trust said its thoughts remained with the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie and all those affected by the events of 29 July.

Ms Cooper said the inquiry would be given all the powers it needed to assess whether red flags were missed.

Rudakubana carried out his murderous attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport at just after 11:45 BST on 29 July.

He had travelled there via taxi, with CCTV footage from the vehicle showing him entering the building wearing a green hooded top and a mask to cover his face.

Once inside, the killer began "systematically" stabbing young girls as they sat making friendship bracelets and singing along to Swift's music.

Dance class leader Leanne Lucas and businessman Jonathan Hayes were also seriously wounded in the attack.

On Thursday Rudakubana was sentenced to jail with a minimum term of 52 years for three counts of murder, 10 of attempted murder, one of producing the biological toxin ricin and one of possession of an Al Qaeda training manual, an offence under the Terrorism Act.

Killer took knife to school

Rudakubana had first been referred to Alder Hey's mental health services after taking a knife to Range High School in Formby and later saying he had done so "to use it".

He was also referred to the counter-extremism programme Prevent because he had been researching school massacres on a computer at his next school, The Acorns.

There were two other referrals to Prevent, but none of them were progressed as Rudakubana had no clear ideology behind his obsession with violence.

Lancashire Police also had several interactions with Rudakubana, including one occasion in March 2022 when he was found on a bus with a knife.

His mother had also been warned to secure the knives in their house.

• How red flags over Southport killer were repeatedly missed

• How the Southport attack unfolded

• Me and my girls were easy prey, says Southport survivor

• Girl, 14, tells Rudakubana 'you looked possessed'

The families of three men murdered in Reading, Berkshire, have demanded more government action after the Southport killings.

James Furlong, David Wails and Joe Ritchie-Bennett were stabbed to death by Khairi Saadallah in Forbury Gardens in June 2020.

Their families said they feared lessons had not been learned and the government needed to do more to ensure changes were made by agencies.

"As far as we can tell, without serious money and serious investment in mental health services in this country, there will continue to be people at large who are a dangerous risk to the safety of the public as we also saw recently in the Nottingham knife attacks," a statement from the families said.

Like Rudakubana, Saadallah had also been referred to the government's anti-extremism Prevent programme.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said a review would also be carried out into "our entire counter-extremist system".

He said he had asked cross-bench peer Lord Anderson of Ipswich KC - the new independent Prevent commissioner - "to hold this system to account, to shine a light into its darkest corners".

During the summer, the Home Office had commissioned an urgent Prevent Learning Review into the three referrals concerning Rudakubana.

Further details of that review are expected soon, alongside new reforms to the Prevent programme.

The BBC has approached the Home Office and Department for Health and Social Care for comment.