The defendant’s name is Axel Rudakubana. He is not an asylum seeker, nor did he recently arrive in Britain by crossing the English Channel illegally on a raft, as incorrect and misleading social media posts had asserted. Nor was he a refugee on a watch list.
He was born in Cardiff, Wales. His parents are originally from Rwanda. They have been living in Southport, the English seaside town where the attacks took place. He has attended British schools his whole life, according to news reports, and enjoyed acting and judo. Police have not reported a motive for the crime that has dominated the headlines this week.
Rudakubana appeared briefly Thursday in two courtrooms in Liverpool. In the youth court, he was charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. In the Crown Court, the anonymity order was removed, allowing the news media to name him.
In one moment, Rudakubana smiled briefly at reporters assembled on the benches, but he spent most of the short hearing hiding his face behind the raised collar of his sweatshirt, according to accounts from journalists in the courtroom.
Two sketch artists in the courtroom produced images, now widely distributed in Britain. In one, his head is bent, his face unseen. In the other, just his eyes are visible above the sweatshirt.
In Britain, minors under 18 are usually not named by police or courts. But there are exceptions, for serious crimes and those that are of great public interest.
In the Crown Court, the recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary, agreed to lift the anonymity order, reasoning that the “idiotic rioting” after the stabbing attack showed the release of the defendant’s name to be in the public interest, according to the Press Association report from inside the hearing.
Menary said the “balance clearly comes down in favor of the public interest in allowing full reporting of these proceedings.”
The judge said that continued anonymity ran the risk of “allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread disinformation in a vacuum.”
Rudakubana is also set to turn 18 on Wednesday, when his name would probably have been released anyway, which could provide an “additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder,” the judge said.
Rudakubana is accused of murdering Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, with a curved kitchen knife on Monday after entering the dance class.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds — with five of them left in critical condition. Two adults — the dance instructor and a neighbor who came to their aid — were also critically hurt. Both adults have been hailed as heroes.
After the attacks, misleading posts and false rumors about the attacker’s identity were spread and amplified. On Tuesday night, after the town held a peaceful vigil, a group of 200 to 300 rioters threw bricks at police, injuring more than 50 officers, while smashing the windows of a mosque and torching a police van.
More riots occurred on Wednesday night in London, Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot. In London alone, more than 100 people were arrested near Downing Street, where Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, lives and works.
On Thursday, Starmer met with police chiefs at Downing Street. At a news conference, he called the protesters “a gang of thugs” and promised that police would have the tools to fight back, with wider use of facial recognition technology, for example, to pursue criminal prosecutions.
“Let’s be very clear about this. It’s not protest. It’s not legitimate. It’s crime. Violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice,” said Starmer, a former criminal prosecutor.
He also warned social media companies: “Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
