Next court appearance for Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana delayed

The next court appearance for a teenager charged with murdering three children in a series of stabbings in Southport has been postponed. Axel Rudakubana had been due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court this morning (December 12).

It was expected the 18-year-old, from Banks in West Lancashire, would enter a plea at the hearing. His case was previously listed to take place before the judge, Mr Justice Goose, from 10am today.

Rudakubana was due to appear in court via video link from Belmarsh prison. But the hearing is now expected to take place at a later date, the Liverpool Echo reports.

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Rudakubana is accused of murdering six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at the Hart Space in Southport on July 29. He is further charged with attempting to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and two adults, Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, who were also stabbed during the incident.

The teenager also faces a count of possession of a bladed article in a public place, namely a kitchen knife with a curved blade, with a trial date having previously been scheduled for January 25 next year. He was charged with additional offences of production of a biological toxin, namely ricin, and possession of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, namely a PDF file entitled "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual", in October.

Merseyside Police's Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told a press conference that the further charges related to evidence obtained following searches of his home address on Old School Close. However, Counter Terrorism Policing have not declared the mass stabbing a terrorist incident.

Chief Constable Kennedy said of this: "The matter of which Axel Rudakubana has been charged under the Terrorism Act does not require motive to be established. For a matter to be declared as a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established."

Rudakubana has not spoken to confirm his identity at any of his four appearances to date before Liverpool Magistrates' Court, Liverpool Crown Court and Westminster Magistrates' Court. The Liverpool Echo understands that the hearing which was listed for today will now instead take place on a date next week instead.