Suspected killer of three little girls in London identified

LONDON — The deaths of three girls in a multiple stabbing attack at a Southport recreational centre in north-west England on Monday by a 17-year-old boy, who has already been charged with murder, has unleashed a wave of violence in the United Kingdom, encouraged by far-right and Islamophobic groups.

The teenager, identified as Axel Rudakubana and accused of the murder of the three girls and the attempted murder of a dozen other people – eight of them minors – appeared yesterday for the first time before the Liverpool Magistrates’ Court, where the court formally presented the charges against the young British man.

His identity was withheld until yesterday due to restrictions imposed by authorities on the subject of the fact that he is a minor, although according to the New York Post, Judge Andrew Menary said that despite not being an adult, the teenager can be identified because he will turn 18 next week.

Rudakubana is being held on remand in a youth detention centre and is due to appear again to plead guilty on 25 October at Liverpool Crown Court, which hears serious offences including murder, rape and armed robbery.

According to police, Rudakubana entered the Southport recreation centre last Monday with a knife during a yoga and dance workshop dedicated to singer Taylor Swift and stabbed to death Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9 years old; Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, in addition to leaving eight other minors and two adults injured.

The racial and religious origins of the Southport girls’ killer — he was born in Wales, but his parents are of Rwandan origin, according to the BBC — gave rise to much speculation and misinformation, which, through social media, several far-right groups linked directly to the country’s immigration problems and the Muslim community.

Following the attack, riots broke out in some cities in England, with more than 100 people arrested at a protest last night in central London, while there were also unrest in the English cities of Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.

According to The Sun, he was born in Cardiff and lived in the village of Banks, just outside Southport. He has an older brother, who was also reportedly born in the Welsh capital.

Helen, who lived next door to the family while they were living there, told the BBC of her shock, adding: “They were a lovely young couple (their parents). They were very boisterous little children.

“The mother was a housewife, the father was nice, he went to work every day. They had a small family car, a compact.”

Another former neighbour described him as a quiet young man who as a child was very attached to his mother.— EFE/BBC/The Sun

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