Two teenagers have been arrested in separate incidents after allegedly expressing intentions to emulate Axel Rudakubana, the perpetrator of the Southport knife attack that claimed the lives of three young girls last year.
The Copycat Cases Unveiled
The first case, from June 2025, involved a 17-year-old from South Wales. The youth reportedly discussed emulating Rudakubana and conducted research into obtaining large knives. Police discovered a note on his phone titled "places to attack", which included images of a dance school near his home. Location data indicated he had been in proximity to the school days prior.
He had also researched other potential targets, including his own school, and communicated plans via Snapchat to attack the first Oasis reunion concert in Cardiff on 4 July. He has pleaded guilty to a single charge of possession of a document useful for terrorism and is awaiting sentencing in January 2026. The case has been adjourned for psychiatric reports due to concerns he may have autism spectrum disorder.
A Second Alleged Plot Emerges
The second teenager, a 16-year-old from Merseyside, was arrested in August. He allegedly planned to attack a Taylor Swift-themed event, intending to wear a green hoodie similar to Rudakubana. Prosecutors state he had visited Southport, collected knives, and researched the same Taylor Swift-themed events that were targeted in the original attack.
Furthermore, he had downloaded the same al Qaeda manual used by Rudakubana to produce the poison ricin, researched high school shootings and misogynist incel ideology, and considered an attack on his former school after dropping out. He faces charges of possession of documents useful for terrorism and making threats to kill, with pleas expected next month.
Broader Context and Systemic Concerns
These arrests occur against a backdrop of a steep rise in referrals to the government's Prevent de-radicalisation programme for cases with no clear ideology, which now constitute more than half of all referrals. However, statistics reveal that only 7% of these referrals were offered an intervention.
This is particularly poignant as Axel Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the July 2024 attack, was turned down by the Prevent programme three times before murdering six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
The first phase of the official inquiry into the Southport killings concluded recently, examining missed opportunities to prevent the attack. A second phase, which will assess whether police, social services, and mental health services are equipped to handle young people fixated on extreme violence, has no scheduled date.
Neither of the recently charged young men can be named due to their ages. Their cases highlight ongoing challenges in identifying and intervening with young individuals who show signs of being drawn to violent acts.
