A teenager accused of killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a Taylor Swift-style stabbing at a dance class in England this summer is scheduled to go on trial early next year, a judge said Wednesday.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, will face trial on January 20 at Liverpool Crown Court on charges of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and additional charges of possessing the poison ricin and obtaining evidence for Al Qaeda.
Family members and friends of the dead and injured girls, as well as one of their severely injured class teachers, attended the hearing in person while Rudakupana appeared via video link from Belmarsh Prison in south London.
Rudakupana, who did not make any confession, continued to refuse to speak in court as he had done in previous hearings. He pulled a sweatshirt over his face and did not identify himself or acknowledge the judge.
“I know you can hear me because the officer behind you said I can be heard,” Judge Julian Goss said while Rudakopana did not respond.
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The trial is expected to last four to six weeks. Another hearing is scheduled for December 12.
Rudakubana was charged in August with the murders of three girls — Alice DaSilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Baby King, 6 — and the stabbing of 10 other people on July 29 in the seaside town of Southport in northern England.
He was charged last month with additional charges of producing a biological toxin, ricin, and possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit a terrorist act because the evidence was found in a document on his computer.
Police said that the stabbing incident was not classified as a terrorist act because the motive was not yet known.
The stabbings fueled far-right activists to stir up anger towards migrants and Muslims after social media incorrectly identified Rudakubana – who was not named at the time – as an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. Rudakobana was born in Wales to Rwandan immigrants.
The riots spread across England and Northern Ireland and continued for a week. More than 1,200 people were arrested over the chaos and hundreds were imprisoned.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
