Lancashire Police apologise for missed arrest to prevent Southport murders

Lancashire’s chief constable has apologised for the force’s crucial missed opportunity to stop Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana.

In March 2022 the teenage killer went missing from home and was found with a knife on a bus, telling police he wanted to stab someone.

He also admitted to thinking about using poison.

Instead of arresting the teenager, Rudakubana was returned to his home in Banks, near Preston, by two Lancashire Police officers who advised his parents to hide their knives.

Had he been arrested, an inquiry into the killings said his home would probably have been searched, leading to the discovery of the ricin seeds he had bought and the terrorist material on his computer.

The conclusion came in a damning report by Sir Adrian Fulford following his inquiry into the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport in July 2024.

In his findings Sir Adrian said: “Rigorously putting out of mind the so-called ‘benefits of hindsight’, I have no doubt that if appropriate procedures had been in place and if sensible steps had been taken by the agencies and [Rudakubana’s] parents, this dreadful event would not have happened.“

It could have been and it should have been prevented.”

Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett said: “Lancashire Constabulary accepts that there was an opportunity to arrest AR on March 17, 2022, and that we did not adequately assess the risk he posed to others.“

I fully accept all the recommendations made for Lancashire Constabulary. These include record keeping and risk assessment, the better sharing of information between partner agencies, improvements in training, and improvements in the availability of effective technology for officers.”