23 July 2026 , 20:42
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Southport killer Axel Rudakabana has been transferred to Broadmoor secure hospital, the Ministry of Justice has said.
People in psychiatric units such as Broadmoor are treated as patients rather than prisoners. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said he would remain locked up and is unlikely to ever be released.
The move is likely to anger many of the families of his victims because he was assessed as fit to stand trial in January 2025.
Rudakubana, now 19, from Banks, Lancashire, was jailed for life in January 2025, with a minimum sentence of 52 years, for the murders of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar.
The tragic girls died after Rudakubana’s horrific knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in Southport on July 29 of the previous year.
He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes and admitted the possession of a bladed article in a public place, namely a kitchen knife with a curved blade.
Officials approved the transfer on behalf of ministers, but a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice stressed it does not alter his 52-year sentence.
The spokesperson said: "The families of those murdered and injured in Southport will be in this country’s heart forever and our thoughts remain with them.
"Any decision to transfer an offender is made following an independent, clinical assessment, under the Mental Health Act. Following rigorous security checks, the offender has been transferred to a high-security psychiatric unit, where he will remain until assessed fit to return to prison.
"Officials have approved this transfer, on behalf of Ministers. This transfer does not change his sentence – which remains at 52 years – and of which he will serve every single day."
World Affairs Correspondent