A lawyer for the families of the three children killed by Axel Rudakubana says his transfer from prison to a high-security psychiatric hospital may be an attempt to ‘manipulate the system’.
Rudakubana, now 19, was convicted of murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and of the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults after an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July 2024. This week he was moved from HMP Belmarsh to Broadmoor hospital under the Mental Health Act.
Chris Walker, who represents the bereaved families, said they do not accept the transfer at face value and are seeking more information from ministers. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that, based on what he has seen so far, there is no evidence Rudakubana has a significant mental health disorder and that the move appears to be a new development while he was in custody. ‘We do have an evil person but being evil does not mean that you’re suffering with psychosis of some sort,’ Walker said, adding that they need to know whether this is a one-off incident, a recurring problem, or an attempt to play the system.
The Prison Officers’ Association said the transfer followed a deterioration in Rudakubana’s mental health. Walker said the news will ‘devastate’ the families and that they have been given only minimal details; he and the families are urgently seeking a meeting with the relevant authorities before commenting further.
At his sentencing in January 2025, Rudakubana received a 52-year term; because he was 17 at the time of the attack the judge could not impose a whole life order, but he is likely never to be released. His defence had previously told the court there was no psychiatric evidence to show a mental disorder contributed to his actions. The court heard he had been assessed as having high-functioning autism without associated learning disabilities and that he appeared to have changed dramatically around age 13.
The Southport Public Inquiry has reviewed Rudakubana’s contacts with mental health services. He was under the care of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust from 2019 until he stopped engaging in 2023. A senior clinician told the inquiry that a combination of ‘lack of empathy’, a ‘fascination with violence’ and neurodiversity created a ‘really toxic mix’. He had also been referred to the government’s Prevent programme three times, though the inquiry found no evidence he held a fixed extremist ideology or motivation. Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford said there had been a ‘fundamental failure’ by organisations to take ownership of the risk he posed. The inquiry also found strong indications, though not conclusive evidence, that Rudakubana had researched mental health explanations and defences he might later use.
Under the Mental Health Act, clinical recommendation can determine whether a prisoner is moved to hospital; the Ministry of Justice says such transfers follow independent clinical assessment and rigorous security checks, and that an offender will be returned to prison once no longer needing hospital treatment. The MoJ reiterated that the transfer does not change Rudakubana’s sentence and said the families remain in the government’s thoughts.
In May 2025 Rudakubana is alleged to have attacked a prison officer with boiling water; that incident remains under investigation. Families and their lawyers say they need full, timely answers about the reasons for this hospital transfer and the circumstances that led to it.