The Conservative Party has urged a public inquiry into the Southport murders to investigate why information about the killer was not made public, following the discovery of ricin and al-Qaeda training manuals in his possession. Axel Rudakubana, who launched an attack resulting in the deaths of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar last summer, was charged shortly afterwards but police and prosecutors kept quiet about the additional evidence they discovered in his home until October. Officers feared that rumours already spreading online might be further fuelled if additional information was released, however, the Conservatives have argued that the ensuing lack of clarity may have directly contributed to subsequent riots.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have defended the decision to withhold the information, stating that the government could not have risked Rudakubana walking free. However, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp stated that an “information vacuum” had contributed to the unrest which followed the initial attack. Cooper countered that the government had wanted to make public the fact Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism programme Prevent, but could not do so on legal advice.
Although Rudakubana has now pleaded guilty to all of the charges against him, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is still withholding certain details until after sentencing on Thursday. While crime reporters had attended a briefing by the police and CPS, the latter organisation subsequently stated that publication should be delayed. The Crime Reporters Association has complained that this violates established principles and the CPS has responded that the “independence of the judge must be respected.” The Prime Minister has suggested that laws defining terrorism may need to be altered to account for lone attackers without a clear motivation.
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