UK charges 17-year-old boy with murder in Southport child killings

SOUTHPORT, England: A 17-year-old boy appeared in an English court on Thursday charged with the murder of three young girls in a knife attack at a summer dance class that has shocked the nation and sparked two nights of violent protests.

Axel Rudakubana first appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court over Monday’s incident at a “Taylor Swift yoga and dance workshop” summer vacation event for children in the seaside town of Southport.

He is charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one of possession of a bladed article.

His case was later heard at Liverpool Crown Court, where he sat in the dock covering his face with a grey sweatshirt and did not speak to confirm his name.

Judge Andrew Menary did not impose reporting restrictions on Rudakubana’s identity, which had not previously been reported as he is under 18. Rudakubana was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing in October.

Large disturbances broke out in Southport, a town in England’s northwest, on Tuesday after false information was spread on social media that the suspect in the stabbings was a radical Islamist migrant, with anti-immigrant protesters descending on Southport town from elsewhere.

Police have said the attack was not terrorism-related and that the suspect was born in Britain, quashing speculation on his origins.