Southport murders accused facing terror charge

The teenager accused of murdering three young girls in Southport has been charged with producing the poison ricin and possessing a military study of an al-Qaeda training manual.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been charged with production of a biological toxin contrary to Section 1 of the Biological Weapons Act 1974.

He has also been charged with possessing 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 accused will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Merseyside Police’s Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said the force would continue to lead the investigation into the stabbings at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July.

Counter Terrorism Police have not declared the matter a terrorist incident, which would require evidence of a motive to be present.

Both the ricin and the study of the training manual were found as part of searches of the suspect’s house in the Lancashire village of Banks after the stabbings.

Ricin is a highly toxic poison naturally derived from castor oil plants.

No trace of the substance was found at the scene of the stabbings in Southport and police said the poison they did discover presented a low risk to the public.

Dr Renu Bindra, senior medical advisor at the UK Health Security Agency, said: “There has been no evidence of ricin poisoning in anyone involved or connected to this incident.”

The teenager has already been charged with the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.

He is also charged with ten counts of attempted murder and possession of a knife.

A trial is expected to begin in January.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister’s thoughts were with the families of the victims.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The government is focused on ensuring the families and all those affected receive justice.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper warned against fresh speculation about the stabbings.

She said: “The most important thing is to get justice for Bebe, Alice and Elsie and their heartbroken families, and all those affected by the attack and nobody should put that at risk.

“The police and prosecutors have an important job to do in their investigation, pursuing every avenue and taking the action they need to ahead of the trial.

“We must support them and ensure that everything possible is done to deliver justice.”

Additional reporting from PA Media.