Southport girls' killer 'threw boiling water mixed with sugar' at prison guard, prosecutors say

A British man jailed ​for the murders of three young ​girls at a Taylor ‌Swift-themed dance event ​in 2024 appeared in a London court on Monday, charged with assaulting prison staff and throwing ‌boiling water mixed with sugar at a guard. Axel Rudakubana, then 17, launched a frenzied knife attack in northern England's Southport on July 29, 2024, killing ‌Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.

Rudakubana also ‌wounded 10 others in the attack, which was followed by days of nationwide rioting. He was jailed for a minimum of 52 years after he admitted the killings last ⁠year. Rudakubana, ​now 20, was ⁠charged in July with attempted grievous bodily harm relating to an incident in May 2025 ⁠when prosecutors say he threw "boiling water mixed with sugar" at a prison officer at ​Belmarsh prison in London.

He is also charged with two counts of ⁠assault on an emergency worker, in May and October 2025, and possession of an offensive weapon ⁠in ​prison after stone shards were found in his cell. Rudakubana appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court by video link from the Broadmoor high security psychiatric ⁠hospital and spoke only to confirm his name, his date of birth and ⁠that he could ⁠hear the judge.

He was not asked to enter any pleas and will next appear at London's Old Bailey ‌court on ‌October 19.