Teens prosecuted for plotting ‘copycat’ Southport attacks

Three teenagers have been prosecuted for “copycat” cases that echo many of the factors identified in the Southport attack.

- Duncan Gardham

The cases raise concerns about teenagers accessing “gore” videos with graphic depictions of real-life violence and death.

The second stage of the inquiry into the Southport killings of three young girls, which opens this week, will seek to find solutions for “violence-fixated” young men. It is expected to look at “diversion orders” and changes to the Prevent programme to counsel young people who are fixated by violence without a political or religious cause.

Axel Rudakubana was 17 when he murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and Alice da Silva Aguiar in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July 2024. He was later jailed for life. It emerged during the first stage of the inquiry that he had become obsessed with “very disturbing imagery” such as pictures of torture, female slavery and dead bodies.