Southport killer charged with assaults on Belmarsh staff

A 19-year-old man serving a life sentence for a mass stabbing at a children's dance class two years ago has been charged with multiple assaults on prison staff. Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls and attempted to murder eight other children and two adults in Southport on July 29, 2024, faces charges stemming from alleged incidents in 2025 while he was held at HMP Belmarsh.

The Metropolitan Police announced the charges on Friday, July 31, 2026. Rudakubana was formally charged on Tuesday, July 28, and is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink on September 11. The specific charges include assault on an emergency worker on May 6, 2025; attempted grievous bodily harm on May 8, 2025; unauthorized possession of an offensive weapon in prison on June 26, 2025; and a second assault on an emergency worker on October 28, 2025. One of the alleged assaults involved pouring boiling water from a kettle over a prison officer in May of last year.

This development comes amid a separate, significant change in Rudakubana's confinement. Last week, the Ministry of Justice confirmed he had been transferred from prison to Broadmoor, a high-security psychiatric...