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A teenager has pleaded guilty to killing three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northwest England.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, admitted to the attack in Southport at the opening of his trial. Not guilty pleas were previously entered on Rudakubana’s behalf after he refused to speak at an earlier hearing, and he is due to stand trial in a few weeks.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing an al-Qaeda training manual and manufacturing the deadly poison ricin, as well as 10 counts of attempted murder.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the July stabbings, which sparked national outrage and sparked some of the worst riot in the UK for decades.

Rudakubana refused to confirm his name at the start of his trial on Monday, but shortly into the proceedings he broke his silence and changed his plea to all 16 charges.

Cases include holding an electronic document titled Military Studies In Jihad Against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual.

Ricin was found during a police search of his home in Banks, Lancashire, next to the training manual.

Despite the discovery of the document, authorities do not consider the incident a terrorist attack.

Justice Goose, the trial judge, told Rudakubana he faced life in prison when he was sentenced on Thursday. Survivors and relatives of the victims were not in court to hear him plead guilty.

Riots broke out across the country afterwards reports disseminated online misidentifying the perpetrator as an illegal immigrant or asylum seeker who recently arrived in the country by boat.

Far-right influencers and conspiracy theorists have exploited the public’s fear of knife attacks to stir up tension and stoke anti-immigrant sentiment.

Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to parents who emigrated from Rwanda. He was 17 at the time of the attack and reporting restrictions initially prevented him from being named, but a judge lifted them to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Rudakubana was first charged with murder and attempted murder. It was only three months after the attack – following what Merseyside police said was a “long and complex investigation” – that he was charged with possession of the ricin and the document.

Police said at the time that motivation had to be established for something to be declared a terrorist incident.