By Canadian Press

Teen charged in English dance class stabbings stays silent in court on new poison and terror charges

Oct 30, 2024 | 5:03 AM

LONDON (AP) — The teen charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class refused to speak as he appeared in court Wednesday to face new charges of possessing a deadly poison and a terror charge linked to possessing an al-Qaida manual.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, who appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court by video link from Belmarsh prison in south London, pulled the top of his gray sweatsuit over his nose and wouldn’t confirm his name or respond to other questions.

“Mr. Rudakubana has remained silent at previous hearings as well,” defense lawyer Stan Reiz said. “For reasons of his own he has chosen not to answer the question.”

Rudakubana, who faces charges of murdering three girls and stabbing 10 other people on July 29, was charged Tuesday with additional counts for production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.

Merseyside Police said they found the poison and a document on his computer that included an al-Qaida training manual titled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants” when they searched his home after the July 29 rampage.

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Ricin is derived from the castor bean plant and is one of the world’s deadliest toxins. It has no known vaccine or antidote and kills cells by preventing them from making proteins.

Rudakubana had been charged in August with the stabbings in the community of Southport that police on Tuesday stressed have not been classed as a “terrorist incident” because the motive is not yet known.

The killings occurred on the first week of summer vacation as about two dozen young girls danced to music by Swift at Hart Space, a community center that hosted everything from pregnancy workshops to women’s boot camps.

Rudakubana was charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England.

He also has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder for the eight children and two adults who were seriously wounded. Leanne Lucas, who led the class, and John Hayes, who worked in a business nearby and ran to help, were credited by police with trying to protect the children.

The stabbings fueled far-right activists to stoke anger at immigrants and Muslims after social media falsely identified the suspect — then unnamed — as an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat.

Within hours of a community vigil to mourn the Southport victims, an unruly mob attacked a mosque near the dance studio and tossed bricks and beer bottles at law enforcement officers and set fire to a police van.

Rioting spread across England and Northern Ireland that lasted a week. More than 1,200 people were arrested for the disorder and hundreds have been jailed.

Rudakubana was born in Wales to Rwandan parents, police said later. British media reported that he was raised Christian.

The judge ordered the new charges to be transferred to Liverpool Crown Court, where prosecutors will ask for them to be consolidated with the murder and attempted murder charges. He faces a hearing in Liverpool on Nov. 13.

Brian Melley, The Associated Press