LONDON (AP) — A British teen pleaded guilty Monday to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a “meticulously planned” stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.
The crime shocked Britain, and misinformation about the attacker sparked anti-immigrant violence across the country. The government announced it would hold an independent public inquiry into the attack, which was carried out by a U.K.-born teenager whose troubling fascination with violence saw him reported to authorities years before the crime.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, entered the surprise guilty pleas as jury selection had been expected to begin at the start of his trial in Liverpool Crown Court.
The July 29 stabbings led to a week of widespread rioting across parts of England and Northern Ireland after the suspect was falsely identified as an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. He was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.
A courtroom sketch of Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana at Liverpool Crown Court on Jan. 20, 2025.
Elizabeth Cook via AP
Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Rudakubana’s conviction, but said it was “a moment of trauma for the nation.”
“There are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls,” he said. “Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.”
U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that a public inquiry would “get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change.”
She disclosed that Rudakubana had been referred to the government’s anti-extremism program, Prevent, when he was 13 and 14, and “was in contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years” — all of whom failed to spot the danger he posed.
The attack occurred on the first day of summer vacation when the little girls at the Hart Space, a sanctuary hidden behind a row of houses, were in a class to learn yoga and dance to the songs of Taylor Swift. What was supposed to be a day of joy turned to terror and heartbreak when Rudakubana, armed with a knife, intruded and began stabbing the girls and their teacher in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England.
“This was an unspeakable attack — one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness,” Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ursula Doyle said. “A day which should have been one of carefree innocence; of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage.”
Tributes are seen outside the Town Hall in Southport, England, Aug. 5, 2024 after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club the week before. » …