AXEL RUDAKUBANA FACES TRIAL OVER ALLEGED PRISON OFFICER ATTACKS

Axel Rudakubana appeared at the Old Bailey on Monday to face charges over alleged attacks on prison officers at HMP Belmarsh in south London. Prosecutors allege that he threw boiling water mixed with sugar through a hatch in his cell door at a male officer on 8 May 2025. He faces a charge of attempted grievous bodily harm over the allegation. Rudakubana appeared by videolink from Broadmoor hospital and spoke only to confirm his name. The court did not ask him to enter pleas.

Two further assault charges concern alleged encounters with officers on 6 May and 28 October 2025. Prosecutors allege that Rudakubana threatened to “soak” a female officer if she did not give him a newspaper, then threw liquid at her. They also allege that he punched a male officer who challenged him in October. An offensive weapon charge concerns sharpened stone shards that prosecutors allege he possessed in prison on 26 June 2025. Prosecutors say the shards appeared to have come from his cell floor and were stuck beneath a shelving unit.

Rudakubana is serving a life sentence for murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024. The sentence also covers his attempted murder of eight other children and two adults. He moved from HMP Belmarsh to Broadmoor, a high-security psychiatric hospital, in July 2026. Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a review hearing for 5 February 2027. The provisional trial dates given differ: 4 October and 8 October 2027.