Southport killer Axel Rudakubana’s family ‘devastated’ and in hiding – latest

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) “gagged” Merseyside Police over releasing details about Southport killer Axel Rudakubana despite him pleading guilty to murder, the Crime Reporters Association warned.

The force was set to brief journalists about “their commendable efforts to investigate Rudakubana, his background and why decisions were taken about charges,” the CRA said.

But the CPS blocked the briefing at the last minute, claiming “reporting or releasing information which hasn’t been put before the court risks pre-judging facts which may inform the sentence handed down.”

However, Rudakubana had already pleaded guilty to murdeing three young girls, meaning there was no risk of potentially prejudicial information disrupting a fair trial by jury.

A judge cannot be prejudiced by a news story. The Judicial Office says judges “must not allow potential public or media responses to skew their decision-making”.

“From day one we have been as open as we possibly could and have constantly been in touch with the CPS who have advised us on what information could be released,” Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said.

“We have wanted to say much more to show we were being open and transparent, but we have been advised throughout that we couldn’t do so as it would risk justice being delivered.”

The Southport attacker should not be labelled as a terrorist but as a “pathetic, vulnerable, criminal loser”, former Met Police counterterrorism chief Neil Basu said.

Mr Basu warned that naming criminals like 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana as terrorists was “giving them exactly what they are looking for.”

“You are giving them their day of fame, their day of infamy. You will, in my view, inspire more of these acts,” he told LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr.

“We have very strong terrorism laws in this country. They apply to lone actors as much as they apply to organised terrorist networks,” he added.

“The point is the ideology and, in this circumstance, counter terrorism policing and local policing in Merseyside were not able to find an ideology.”

Rudakubana admitted to the production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of a terrorist document a PDF file titled Military Studies in the Jihad against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual.