Southport attack suspect in court on terror charge

Axel Rudakubana did not speak as he appeared in court via videolink from prison

An 18-year-old who is accused of murdering three girls in Southport has appeared in court over a terror charge.

Axel Rudakubana, who appeared via videolink at Westminster Magistrates' Court, is charged with making the toxic poison ricin.

He also faces a charge of possessing a PDF file likely to be useful in committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Mr Rudakubana held his grey tracksuit top over the bottom half of his face and did not respond when asked to confirm his name.

A security officer with him at Belmarsh Prison, where the defendant is being held, told the court he had chosen not to speak.

Stan Reiz KC, defence lawyer, said: "Mr Rudakubana has remained silent at previous hearings as well”, adding "for reasons of his own he has chosen not to answer the question".

The 18-year-old is charged with the murder of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King.

Mr Rudakubana, from the village of Banks in Lancashire, has already been charged with the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, after the attacks in Southport on 29 July.

He also faces charges on ten counts of attempted murder and possession of a knife after the stabbings.

Eight of the alleged attempted murders concern attacks on children who cannot be named for legal reasons, while the final two allegations concern alleged attacks on yoga teacher Leanne Lucas and another adult, John Hayes.

Military study

Chief Magistrate, district judge Paul Goldspring remanded the defendant in custody on the new charges at the brief hearing, which lasted less than ten minutes.

Judge Goldspring sent the case to Liverpool Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on 13 November, to be dealt with alongside the other charges.

The terrorism and poison charges were brought forward by prosecutors after the police’s continuing investigation into the suspect.

They include production of a biological toxin contrary to Section 1 of the Biological Weapons Act 1974 and possession a PDF document of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing to or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The PDF file was not an Al-Qaeda document but rather a military study of a manual made by the Islamist terror organisation.