Doctor unaware of killer's violent history deemed risk as 'minimal'

PSYCHIATRIST HADN'T READ NOTES WHEN CASE WAS REFERRED

- By PATRICK EDRICH

A PSYCHIATRIST who deemed the Southport killer's risk as “minimal” didn’t know about the teenager’s history of violence because he didn’t read his notes.

Dr Anthony Molyneux, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist with Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, took charge of Axel Rudakubana’s case in July 2022 after his colleague said she could no longer work with the teenager's family.

But the Southport Inquiry heard yesterday that experienced psychiatrist Dr Molyneux was not aware of any of Rudakubana’s previous contact with the police and his obsession with knives.

The doctor said he was not aware Rudakubana had admitted taking knives into school on 10 occasions, leading to a call to Childline in October 2019, instead his “sum knowledge” was that the teenager was allegedly being bullied and had attended school carrying a knife, leading to his permanent exclusion.

The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, also heard the doctor was not aware Rudakubana had attacked a student with a hockey stick in December 2019; had said he was prepared to use a knife to potentially kill his target; or that his victim was actually an innocent, random child that he assaulted because he didn’t want to get into trouble for nothing.

Dr Molyneux also did not know Rudakubana had received a conviction and a 10-month referral order for the hockey stick incident or that the teenager was found on a bus with a knife in March 2022, telling officers he had the weapon because he wanted to stab people.