Britain to launch investigation into murders of three girls in Southport
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Police officers and others stand outside the front of Liverpool Crown Court at the start of the trial of Axel Rudakubana, in Liverpool, on Jan 20.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LONDON - Britain announced a public inquiry on Jan 20 into the murder of three young girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event last year, a crime that ignited days of violent riots.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper announced the inquiry after British teenager Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to the murders earlier on Jan 20, admitting he carried out the killings in the northern English town of Southport.
“It is essential that the families and the people of Southport can get answers about how this terrible attack could take place and about why this happened to their children,” Ms Cooper said.
British-born Rudakubana was arrested shortly after the attack. Despite the discovery of the Al-Qaeda manual, police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related, and his motive is unknown.
In the wake of the murders, large disturbances broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant. The unrest then spread across Britain.
The unrest spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers. Prime Minister Keir Starmer blamed far-right thuggery and more than 1,500 people were arrested.
The Guardian newspaper reported that Rudakubana, the son of devout Christians who had moved to Britain from Rwanda, had been referred to Prevent – a programme aimed at stopping people from becoming terrorists – over concerns that he was looking at online material about US school massacres and past terrorist attacks. But he was not judged to be a terrorism risk, the paper said.
Ms Cooper said an inquiry was needed so families of the victims “can get answers about how this terrible attack could take place and about why this happened to their children”.
Public inquiries are investigations that can be set up by British government ministers that have special powers to compel testimony and the release of other forms of evidence. REUTERS
