alleged perpetrator of murder of three girls who caused riots pleads guilty

The alleged perpetrator of the murder of three girls at the end of July in the north of England, a knife attack which sparked violent riots in the country, pleaded guilty on Monday, on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Criminal Court .

Aged 18, Axel Rudakubana admitted the murders of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva, 9, on July 29 in Southport.

The victims were taking part in a dance class inspired by pop star Taylor Swift. Ten other people were injured, including eight children, in one of the worst stabbing attacks in this country in years.

He also admitted to producing a highly toxic poison, ricin, and to possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual. However, the “terrorist” motivation was not considered for these murders.

At his trial on Monday, Axel Rudakubana refused to stand in court and responded “guilty” to each charge. The fact that he pleaded guilty shortened the proceedings, and the judge announced that he would pronounce his sentence on Thursday.

In December, the suspect refused to speak to the court, which then considered his silence to be tantamount to a plea of ​​not guilty and decided to try the case in a trial initially expected to last four weeks.

“Traumatic period”

British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said Monday morning that the trial was going to be “a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the families.”

She called for “a fair trial and justice to be done”.

In the wake of the attack, violent anti-immigration protests took place in dozens of towns in England and Northern Ireland, fueled by far-right agitators amid internet rumors about the suspect.

Then aged 17, Axel Rudakubana was wrongly presented as a Muslim asylum seeker even though he was born in Wales into a family originally from Rwanda, and lived in Banks, a town near Southport.

The violence lasted several days, during which rioters attacked hotels housing asylum seekers, mosques, and clashes took place with the police, mobilized en masse, or with counter-protesters.

On August 8, thousands of people gathered across the country to say “stop the far right” and against racism and Islamophobia.

Although Axel Rudakubana was a minor at the time of the events, the courts authorized the revelation of his identity in the face of rumors circulating about him.

More than 400 convictions after the riots

Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who came to power at the beginning of July, denounced “extreme right” riots and promised the greatest firmness for the perpetrators of this violence and for those who stirred it up online.

As of mid-December, more than 410 people had been sentenced across the country in connection with these riots, including more than 360 to prison, according to a count carried out by the British news agency PA.

Two men notably received nine years in prison, the heaviest sentence handed down against the perpetrators of this violence.

A body responsible for monitoring police action estimated that they had underestimated the climate of violence and the weight of disinformation which culminated in the riots this summer.

The Southport attack sparked a wave of horrified reactions across the country. King Charles III visited the site in August to meet the surviving children.

The day after the attack, singer Taylor Swift, then in the middle of her global tour, said she was “completely shocked”. According to several media, the star had met two of the injured girls on the sidelines of his concerts in London in August.

Prince William and his wife Kate also visited Southport in October, paying tribute to the relief efforts.