A teenager accused of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in northern England in July has been further charged with a terrorism offence and the production of deadly poison ricin, police and prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, is accused of killing the girls, aged between six and nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in Southport, murders that shocked Britain and provoked days of rioting.
Police said the incident was still not being treated as terrorist-related but said after searches of his home that Rudakubana had now been charged with production of the lethal biological toxin ricin, and the possession of an al-Qaeda training manual.
“We have worked extensively with partners to establish that there was a low to very low risk to the public – and I want to make that reassurance clear today,” said Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy. She said no ricin was found at the scene of the stabbings.
Rudakubana was charged in August but has not yet entered a plea to three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. He will appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday over the two new offences.
Large disturbances broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant. The disturbances spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers.
