Southport assaults: the failures that allowed Axel Rudakubana to kill – podcast | Southport assault

It was arduous to think about a extra unlikely place for horror to unfold than a group centre holding a Taylor Swift-themed dance class within the sleepy seaside city of Southport. So when three little women had been murdered and eight different kids and two adults viciously stabbed by a 17-year-old boy, it appeared incomprehensible. However earlier than the shock may put on off, misinformation and lies about who had unleashed this distress started to unfold. The consequence was days of racist riots and violence.

Josh Halliday, the Guardian’s North of England editor, lined the assaults, the riots and now the courtroom case of Axel Rudakubana as he was sentenced to 52 years in jail. On Monday, because the jury was anticipated to be sworn in, the now 18-year-old Rudakubana shocked everybody by pleading responsible to all the costs he was confronted with. And this week the decide gave him a life sentence.

However whereas the case was reduce quick, one factor was very clear – the repeated and worrying failures to cease this harmful and troubled younger man from hurting others. Josh describes Rudakubana’s historical past of violence, how he took knives to high school and on public transport, and even referred to as Childline to inform them he wished to kill somebody; how he was referred to the federal government’s anti-radicalisation programme, Stop, thrice – and the way his personal mother and father repeatedly referred to as the police due to their worries over his horrifying behaviour. Now Helen Pidd hears how the federal government has introduced they’re launching a public inquiry, a assessment of Stop, and are even pondering of fixing the definition of terrorism.