Warning: This article contains discussion of violence and murder which some readers may find distressing
Two ‘copycats’ of the Southport killer have been arrested.
Aged 17 and 16, the two boys cannot be named but have been arrested in separate cases for allegedly plotting an attack on an Oasis concert and a Taylor Swift-themed event.
It is reported that they were seeking to emulate Axel Rudakubana, who was 17 when he killed Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; Bebe King, six; and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; and attempted to murder 10 others at a Swift-themed dance class on 29 July last year.
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He was later handed a minimum 52-year sentence, marking the ‘second-longest sentence imposed by the courts in English history’.
And the ‘copycat’ cases come amid concern over further attacks on schools and dance schools.
The Times report that neither of the teens have been charged with preparing terrorist acts as ‘prosecutors do not consider attacks on schoolchildren or misogynistic violence to be ‘ideological’.
Instead, both of the boys have been charged with lesser offences.
The first phase of the inquiry into Rudakubana’s horrific killings came to an end on Friday (7 November) as we heard from his family and the family of victims. This phase looked at missed opportunities to prevent the attack.
And a second phase is to look at whether or not police, mental health teams and social services are properly equipped to manage young people who are fixated on extreme violence, like Rudakubana - these two ‘copycat’ cases are central in those questions.
Back in June, a 17-year-old from Cwmbran, South Wales, was accused of planning an attack on the Oasis reunion concert in Cardiff on 4 July. He had apparently discussed copying the Southport killer and researched obtaining large knives, with a phone note titled ‘places to attack’ that had images of and directions to a dance school near his home.
He has pleaded guilty to possessing a document useful for terrorism (the same offence Rudakubana got a 18-month sentence for) and is set to be sentenced in January. That case has been adjourned for psychiatric reports as there are concerns he has autism spectrum disorder.
And in the second ‘copycat’ case, a 16-year-old from Merseyside had allegedly planned to attack a Swift-themed event. It’s said he was going to do so wearing a green hoodie, mirroring Rudakubana.
Prosecutors say he travelled to Southport, collected knives, researched the event and downloaded the same al-Qaeda manual used by Rudakubana to produce resin.
Having also researched high-school shootings and misogynist incels, the teen was arrested in August and charged with possessing documents useful for terrorism and making threats to kill. The 16-year-old is set to enter pleas in December.
Topics: Oasis, Taylor Swift, UK News, Terrorism, Crime
Jess Battison