The 18-year-old man accused of murdering three young girls in Southport (northwest England) last July, Axel Rudakubana, faces two new positions for crimes of “terrorism” And “production of biological weapons“, as reported by Merseyside Police on Tuesday.
“Today, the Prosecutor’s Office authorized the indictment of 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana for two additional crimes” after police obtained evidence from the young man’s home during the “complex” investigation. explained the police chief, Serena Kennedy. in a video on social networks.
The first of the new positions is that of “production of a biological toxin“, after obtaining samples of an “unknown substance” at his home, which was later confirmed to be ricin and which contravened the British Biological Weapons Act 1974.
Furthermore, the crime of possession of a document containing information “useful to terrorism”referring to a PDF file named Military Studies on Jihad Against Tyrants: Al-Qaeda Training Manual.
According to Kennedy, the authorities considered that the contents of the text “could be useful to a person who commits or prepares a terrorist act contrary to the law on terrorism.”
However, he clarified that for the moment, the United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism police did not declare the Southport incident a “terrorist act” because, despite the new accusations, the motivations still need to be clarified.
In this sense, he urged the population of the English city to Don’t engage in “rumors or speculation” no longer believe everything they read on the internet, after misinformation about the Southport attacker’s racial and religious identity sparked a wave of disinformation and xenophobic violence in the UK.
The incident occurred on July 29 at a local leisure center, during a thematic workshop on pop singer Taylor Swift, which ended with around ten injured and the death of the girlsBebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged six to nine.
“We are determined to bring justice to the families of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all other victims who were injured or harmed on this tragic day,” Kennedy said.
“Legal proceedings against Axel Rudakubana are still ongoing, with a trial scheduled for next January, and details of the investigation will be heard in court,” Kennedy concluded.
