Who Is Axel Rudakubana? Southport Killer Faces New Prison Charges For Throwing Boiling Sugar Water at Officer

Axel Rudakubana, who at the moment has to serve a life sentence for the 2024 Southport killings, turned up in court on Monday, Sept. 21, in connection with new claims about his period of imprisonment at HMP Belmarsh. The 20-year-old appeared by video link from Broadmoor Hospital, to which he was moved earlier this year.

He faces four separate charges arising from incidents, according to prison staff, in 2025. One of the allegations is that he poured boiling water mixed with sugar through the hatch of his cell door at a police officer. He did not enter any plea at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was sent back into custody to be brought back in court.

Who Is Axel Rudakubana?

When Rudakubana was 17 years old, he attacked a children’s dance class themed around Taylor Swift in Southport on 29 July 2024. Three girls were killed: Bebe King, aged 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, who was 9 years old. Apart from these three, eight other children and two adults were also victims of the attempted murders.

He was convicted on all the charges and was given a minimum sentence of 52 years’ imprisonment. He was also found guilty of producing ricin and of possessing material that was useful for planning a terrorist act, both of which were included in the main case against him.

Axel Rudakubana’s New Accusations

The prosecutors claim that the most serious of the new accusations took place on May 8, 2025, when Rudakubana is reported to have thrown boiling water and sugar through the hatch of the door of his cell at an officer. The officer received immediate medical treatment and, as a result, suffered no permanent injuries, the court was told.

On May 6, 2025, two days before this serious allegation, it is alleged that he threatened a female officer and threw an unknown liquid on her when she asked him for a newspaper; the court was informed that no damage was done. The third charge is that Rudakubana punched a male officer on October 28, 2025, after the staff had approached him in an attempt to find out whether he had taken his medication.

The fourth accusation made against him is for possessing an offensive weapon. The prosecutors stated to the court that in June 2025 they discovered sharpened pieces of stone attached to the underside of a shelving unit in his cell.

Why was Rudakubana transferred to Broadmoor?

In July 2026, Rudakubana was sent to Broadmoor, which is one of the few high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, following a clinical evaluation to see if he could remain in a regular prison. The transfer took place even though he had already received a life sentence, and it had no effect on that sentence. According to the legal system that applies to such transfers, patients are officially detained and may be returned to prison if the need for hospital treatment is considered to have disappeared.

What Happens Next?

No objections were raised against Rudakubana at the hearing on Monday, and he is still in prison. He will appear at the Old Bailey on Oct. 19, where the new allegations will be handled as a separate legal issue from the convictions which led to his present sentence. The case represents another chapter in what has already become one of the most closely watched criminal cases in the UK in recent years.