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A teenager pleaded guilty Monday to charges of killing three girls and injuring 10 others in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, suddenly pleaded guilty at the start of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and additional charges related to possession of the poison ricin and possession of Al-Qaeda manuals.
The stabbings on July 29 led to a week of unrest in parts of England and Northern Ireland after the suspect was falsely identified as an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. He was born in Wales.
The judge said Rudakubana faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced on Thursday.
Defense attorney Stanley Reiz said he would present the judge with information about Rudakubana’s mental health that could be relevant to his sentence.
Rudakubana refused to speak in court and again refused to identify himself at the start of the proceedings.
Prosecutors have not said what they believe led to the rampage, which resulted in the deaths of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6.
Misidentified as a migrant
The stabbings sparked week-long riots in parts of England and Northern Ireland after Rudakubana – then unnamed – was falsely identified as a recent asylum seeker. Violent groups of mostly men mobilized by far-right activists on social media attacked mosques and hotels housing migrants, threw beer bottles, rocks and other weapons at police and torched cars as they clashed with police in dozens of cities.
More than 1,200 people were arrested for rioting, and hundreds were sentenced to up to nine years in prison.
The UK government wants social media to do more to stop the spread of misinformation after it spread on platforms such as X and sparked violent protests.
Eight other girls, aged between seven and 13, were injured in the attack, along with instructor Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes, who worked at a neighboring business and intervened. Fifteen other girls, aged five, were at the class, but unharmed.
A few months after his arrest on the day of the murders, Rudakubana was indicted on additional counts of manufacturing a biological poison, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or about to commit an act of terrorism for having the manual in a document on his computer.
Police said the stabbings were not classified as an act of terrorism because the motive was not yet known.
