Southport killer Axel Rudakubana moved to Broadmoor hospital

Axel Rudakubana was moved from HMP Belmarsh to Broadmoor in Berkshire after a clinical assessment under the Mental Health Act found he could no longer be safely managed in prison. The transfer did not change his 52-year sentence.

The legal route used for sentenced prisoners with a mental disorder is section 47 of the Mental Health Act, which allows a transfer to hospital for treatment on the advice of two doctors and with a direction from the Secretary of State for Justice. Broadmoor is a high-security psychiatric hospital, and in restricted cases the Justice Secretary also controls leave and discharge.

Rudakubana was convicted after murdering Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, in the attack at the Hart Space dance studio in Southport, Merseyside, on 29 July 2024. He also stabbed eight other children and two adults. A January 2025 sentencing note from the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary said he tried to disrupt proceedings so he would not have to face the victims of his crimes and was sentenced in his voluntary absence.

The families of the girls have continued to focus on the state failures that preceded the murders. Chris Walker called the level of failure by a large number of state organisations and agencies “jaw-dropping” and said people should lose their jobs over the breakdowns, while Sara Stanger told BBC Breakfast the families were shocked by the number of missed opportunities to stop him. A public inquiry later concluded that “catastrophic” failures by Rudakubana’s parents and various agencies meant clear chances to prevent the child murders were missed, and said he should have been detained before he walked out of his home on the day of the attack.