Axel Rudakubana appears in court over prison officer attack charges
Axel Rudakubana appeared by video link from Broadmoor and heard four charges over alleged attacks on Belmarsh prison officers; he entered no pleas and will return to the Old Bailey in October.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Axel Rudakubana, now 20, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court by video link from Broadmoor High Security Psychiatric Hospital to face four charges linked to alleged attacks on prison officers at Belmarsh prison in south London.
At the hearing, he only spoke to confirm he could hear the court and to give his name and date of birth. He sat with his head resting in his hand.
The most serious charge is attempted grievous bodily harm. The prosecution says Rudakubana threw boiling water mixed with sugar through the hatch in his cell door at a prison officer in May. The court heard the officer avoided lasting injury because of prompt medical attention. When questioned shortly after, Rudakubana claimed prison officers had been poisoning his food.
He also faces two counts of assaulting an emergency worker. One alleges he threw an unknown liquid at a female prison officer in a row over a newspaper, but she was not harmed. The other alleges he punched a male prison officer who had asked about his medication.
He is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon in prison. Sharpened stone shards, which he allegedly prized from his cell floor, were found hidden under a shelving unit. When questioned, he allegedly said he was keeping them for self defence.
He gave no indication of a plea. His next appearance will be at the Old Bailey on 19 October.
Rudakubana is already serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, and for the attempted murder of eight other girls and two adults. The attack happened at a dance class in Southport in July 2024. He was moved from Belmarsh to Broadmoor in July after the alleged assaults. This was the first time he had been seen since he was sentenced.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One | ITV |
|---|---|---|
| Axel Rudakubana appeared in court by video link from Broadmoor Secure Psychiatric Hospital, his first appearance since receiving a life sentence. | ||
| He faced four charges: attempted grievous bodily harm of a prison officer, two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, and possession of an offensive weapon in prison. | ||
| He gave no indication of a plea and was due to appear next at the Old Bailey on 19 October. | ||
| He was accused of possessing sharpened stones or stone shards hidden under a shelving unit as an offensive weapon, and allegedly said they were for self defence. | ||
| He was accused of throwing boiling water mixed with sugar through a hatch in his cell door at a prison officer in May last year. | ||
| When questioned after the alleged attack, Rudakubana claimed prison officers had been poisoning his food. | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC One West led with the court appearance as the first sighting of Rudakubana since his life sentence and set out the four charges in sequence. It gave the exact next hearing date at the Old Bailey and noted he only spoke to confirm he could hear the court and confirm his name and date of birth. It did not include some prosecution detail about injuries, food poisoning claims or his self defence claim, and it ended the segment with an unrelated story about a fight in Greece.
- “Well, Nina, this is the first time we've seen Axel Rudakubana since he was given that life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years.”
- “He gave no indication of a plea to those charges and his next appearance will be at the Old Bailey on the 19th of October.”
- “He was appearing by video link from Broadmoor Secure Psychiatric Hospital, where he was moved from prison earlier this year.”
ITV1 carried the hearing on both lunchtime and evening bulletins and focused on the prosecution's account of the alleged attacks. It added detail not heard on the BBC bulletins, including that an officer avoided lasting injury because of prompt medical attention, that Rudakubana claimed prison officers were poisoning his food, and that he said sharpened stones were for self defence. It also described him sitting with his head resting in his hand and confirmed he was moved to Broadmoor in July.
- “The court heard that this happened in May at Belmarsh prison where Rudakubana was being held after he was given a life sentence for the murders of three little girls at a dance class in Southport in 2024.”
- “Sitting with his head resting in his hand, he listened as details of the four charges he's now facing were shared with the court.”
- “When questioned about them, Rudakubana allegedly said he was keeping them for self defence.”
Broadcast Timeline
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