Two years ago this month, Axel Rudakubana burst into a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe, and injured 10 others. Now, the government has pledged to implement all 67 recommendations from the public inquiry into the attack – a response driven by what the inquiry chair, Sir Adrian Fulford, called the failure by any organisation to “take ownership of the risk” posed by Rudakubana.
Warning signs were repeatedly missed. Rudakubana had revealed his interest in violence multiple times, including when police found him on a bus with a knife in 2022. Rather than make an arrest, officers sent him home. Sir Adrian and the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, want to ensure that in future, police confronted by a young man with a knife – and with a similar track record – would behave differently.
“Government vows to implement all 67 recommendations after inquiry finds no agency took ownership of risk posed by Axel Rudakubana.”
A key part of the problem, the inquiry found, was what officials did and did not know about Rudakubana as he slipped through the gaps between public services. The plan is to close those gaps. But changing the rules about information-sharing within and between agencies is technically and ethically fraught – particularly when health records are involved, as they were here. Out-of-date IT is another challenge; data does not flow smoothly even between police forces. A further issue is a lack of clarity about how risks are communicated between schools. Rudakubana’s previous referrals to the anti-terror Prevent programme were not shared, leading to a failure to assess “cumulative risk” when later concerns were raised.
Some measures are already under way. Scrutiny of the sale of weapons is being tightened. New rules banning social media companies from offering services to children have been announced. The Department for Education is reviewing security guidance for out-of-school settings – such as leisure centres – and the tools used by schools to filter and monitor what pupils do online. The Law Commission is looking at the responsibilities of parents. The failure by Rudakubana’s family to warn authorities about his behaviour was another of the inquiry’s key points, and there may be a new obligation on taxi drivers to report criminal activity.
The granular adjustments to protocols and processes are designed to stop another killer from slipping through. But as Sir Adrian made clear, the most fundamental finding was that no single agency took ownership of the risk. The question now is whether the 67 recommendations – and the government’s determination to implement them all – will be enough to ensure that next time, someone does.