Southport attack: Murder suspect Axel Rudakubana in court over ricin and al Qaeda manual charges

Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana has appeared in court after ricin and an al Qaeda training manual were allegedly found in a search of his home.

The 18-year-old appeared at Westminster magistrates' court by video link from Belmarsh prison charged with the production of a biological toxin and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.

Wearing a grey tracksuit, Rudakubana sat holding his sweater over the bottom half of his face during the short hearing and remained silent when he was asked to confirm his name.

A prison officer said the defendant could hear proceedings but he had chosen not to say anything, while his barrister Stan Reiz KC, said: "For reasons of his own he has chosen not to answer the question."

He has already been charged with three counts of murder over the fatal stabbing of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town.

Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attack on 29 July, is also charged with the attempted murder of eight other children, along with instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, and possession of a knife.

He is yet to enter pleas to the charges and is due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on 13 November for a plea and trial preparation hearing, with a provisional trial date set for January next year.

The fresh charges were announced at a police briefing on Tuesday, where officers said the latest alleged offences relate to evidence found in searches of Rudakubana's home in Banks, Lancashire, in the days after the attack.

The first charge, under the Biological Weapons Act 1974, states that he produced a biological toxin, namely ricin, on or before 29 July.

The second, under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000, alleges he possessed a PDF file entitled "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual".

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sent the new charges, which he said were "related" to the counts he already faces, to be heard together at Liverpool Crown Court.

Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said the mass stabbing has not been declared a terrorist incident.

It was followed by days of far-right riots up and down the UK after misinformation online said the suspect was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat, although it later emerged that Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales.

Police have made more than 1,500 arrests over the disorder, while prosecutors have brought more than 1,000 charges, and nearly 400 people have been jailed.

Tuesday's announcement prompted questions from Sir Keir Starmer's political rivals over whether information had been withheld from the public.

But Downing Street has insisted the timing of the latest charging announcement was purely a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

(c) Sky News 2024: Southport attack: Murder suspect Axel Rudakubana in court over ricin and al Qaeda manual charg