Too much focus by Prevent on Southport killer’s ‘absence of ideology’ – minister

A review into the handling of the Southport child killer under the Government’s counter-terrorism programme Prevent has concluded “too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology”, security minister Dan Jarvis has said.

As the findings were published, Mr Jarvis told MPs there was an “under-exploration” of the significance of Axel Rudakubana’s repeat referrals, including his history of violence.

Mr Jarvis said: “The review concluded that too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology, to the detriment of considering the perpetrator’s susceptibility, grievances and complex needs.

“The overall conclusion of the review is that he should have been case managed through the Channel multi-agency process, rather than closed to Prevent. This would have enabled co-ordinated multi-agency risk management and support.”

The Government has accepted all 14 recommendations for improvements in the Prevent learning review, the minister added, as he vowed to do “everything in our power” to stop further atrocities.

He told MPs that the Government has begun an internal review of the Prevent thresholds, to make sure it can deal with the “full range” of threats from Islamist extremism to fascination with mass violence as seen in the Southport case.

The review will be completed in April, he added.

It was also announced that the Prevent learning review into the killing of Southend West Conservative MP Sir David Amess in 2021 will be released next week in a commitment to transparency over the programme.

“Transparency and enabling public scrutiny is also fundamental, and that is why we will take steps to publish the findings of other independent Prevent learning reviews where there has been an incident of national significance,” Mr Jarvis said.

Rudakubana was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years – one of the highest minimum terms on record – for murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.

The 18-year-old also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

Three separate referrals were made to Prevent about Rudakubana’s behaviour in the years before the attack, as well as six separate calls to police.

The teenager attacked a pupil with a hockey stick, used school computers to look up the London Bridge terror outrage and carried a knife on a bus and into class before he carried out the Southport murders.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had announced a public inquiry will be held to look at any “missed opportunities” to identify Rudakubana’s murderous intent and she ordered a “thorough review” of the Prevent referrals.

Prevent learning reviews are commissioned jointly by the Home Office and Counter-Terrorism Policing when a terrorist attack or serious violent offence is committed by someone who had previous involvement in the programme.

Mr Jarvis also told MPs there was “sufficient risk” posed by Rudakubana to keep his cases within Prevent active but these were “closed prematurely”.

In a learning point over his first referral in 2019, the review said there was sufficient information to refer Rudakubana to the next stage of the programme, called Channel, especially because of his age and complex needs.

It said Rudakubana’s research of school shootings, talking about stabbing people and saying the terrorist attack on ‘MEN’, believed to refer to the Manchester arena attack in 2017, “may have shown a real interest in terrorism”.

There were a number of factors present to have concerns about Rudakubana and his potential vulnerability to being drawn into terrorism, it added.

The report also detailed how emphasis on ideology can exist today and “careful consideration” needs to be given to cases where individuals are easily influenced but lack a defined ideology.

It found that under changes made in April 2024 over ideology categories, Rudakubana’s case would now fall into one of two new pathways – either ‘no ideology’ or ‘fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks’ in the programme.

Reacting to the report, Southport MP Patrick Hurley said some of the details in the review “beggar belief”, including that Rudakubana’s name was spelt differently in each referral.

While the review flagged that meant there was potential for previous referrals not to show up in searches, it found in Rudakubana’s case all of the referrals were linked.

Head of Counter-Terrorism Policing Matt Jukes said the review describes decisions made at the time within in a system “not equipped” to deal with “emerging risks that were very different to those it had been built to address”.

“In this case, there were at least 15 contact points with public services – health, education and social care systems, and the police” he said.

“We want to see a system where every one of those contacts counts, and where the sum total of all of them taken together is seen as the red flag that it should be.”

Mr Jukes said that cases where young people are drawn into extreme violence online, combined with mental health and social challenges, should have “a clear home” rather than being passed between organisations.

Recommendations in the review include guidance over how repeat referrals are combined to previous ones, internet usage and search history alongside training measures and reviews for officers.