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THE AMAZON KILLER
How sickeningly easy it was for Southport killer Axel Rudakubana to buy knife & poison online before brutal murders
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also warned that Britain faces a new 'threat of terrorism'
SOUTHPORT murderer Axel Rudakubana was able to buy knives on Amazon in seconds despite being just 17 with a history of violence.
The triple child killer also purchased equipment to make deadly ricin poison from the online retail giant, it emerged.
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Sir Keir Starmer told The Sun he will urgently change the law to stop under-18s bypassing online age checks with ease. He said: “This cannot continue.”
Rudakubana, who fatally stabbed three young girls at a Taylor Swift dance class last July, exploited limited checks allowing blades to be sent without ID.
He amassed a cache of weapons including knives, machetes and arrows, and admitted carrying a blade more than ten times.
The killer, referred to the anti-terror programme three times, also had a conviction for a violent offence against a child at school.
MORE ON SOUTHPORT ATTACK
The Government will now introduce two-step verification for all knife web purchases. Companies will be required by law to forbid sale without a digital scan of a passport or driving licence as well as a live selfie video to verify the buyer is the ID holder.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs: “For a 17-year-old to be able to get the knife he used online from Amazon, that is frankly shocking.”
She also warned tech firms to clean up extreme content, including “some of the dangerous material this terrible offender accessed”.
Rudakubana — who admitted murdering Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine — will be sentenced tomorrow.
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He was 17 when he ordered two survival knives to his home — a fortnight before killing three children and injuring ten more at a Taylor Swift dance workshop last July 29.
Rudakubana also made two attempts to purchase a £4, 20cm-long kitchen knife in the month before his atrocity. He used security software to hide his identity.
The Sun's political editor Harry Cole grills Keir Starmer on Southport attack cover-up
A similar knife to the one he used to kill costs just £1.70.
Other items found at his home were a machete, knives, and a set of arrows.
And a source said his purchasing history showed he had an interest in the “procurement of weapons capable of killing”.
Writing in today’s Sun, PM Sir Keir Starmer said: “Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives.
“Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.
“And yet tragically, he was still able to order the murder weapon off of the internet without any checks or barriers. A two-click killer. This cannot continue.”
The Sun can also reveal Rudakubana also bought equipment to make the poison ricin on Amazon in 2022, two years before his attack.
Patrick Green, of anti-knife crime charity The Ben Kinsella Trust, said: “The unregulated sale of knives on online platforms like Amazon is endangering countless lives. We need urgent reform.”
Neighbours said Rudakubana had items delivered from Amazon “almost constantly” and his house was full of the firm’s boxes. He asked some residents if they could take in packages for him.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Rudakubana admitted to having carried a knife more than ten times.
And it emerged Lancashire Police were called to the family home in Banks five times between October 2019 and May 2022 over worries about his behaviour.
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Ms Cooper told MPs: “The action against him was far too weak.
“And despite the fact he’d been convicted for violence and was just 17, he was easily able to order a knife on Amazon.
“That’s a total disgrace and it must change. So, we will bring in stronger measures in the Crime and Policing Bill this spring.”
She told MPs the autistic teenager had been referred to the Prevent programme three times, with numerous agencies having had some contact with him.
Ms Cooper said: “The three referrals took place between three and four years before the attack, including following evidence that he was expressing interest in school shootings, in the London Bridge attack, the IRA, MI5 and Middle East.
“On each occasion Rudakubana’s case was assessed by counter terrorism policing but in each case there was no onward referral to specialist channel support.
"The learning review has concluded the referrals should not have been closed and that cases such as these given his age and complex needs should be referred to channel.”
Earlier Sir Keir said the attack and Government’s response to such cases was now a “line in the sand”.
Last July police and ministers insisted the attack was not terror- related, but yesterday the PM said Rudakubana “clearly intended to terrorise”.
'Line in the sand'
The failures “leap off the page”, he added.
But he blamed fears of collapsing the trial for withholding details that the teen had downloaded a terror manual, made ricin and was known to the authorities.
Sir Keir said: “I did not disclose anything that would collapse the trial and defeat justice. I was kept up to date with the facts. That is usual practice. But I had to observe the law.”
And he promised that “nothing will be off the table” as he confirmed further details of an inquiry into how Whitehall and the cops failed to protect innocent children.
Sir Keir also warned that Britain faces a new “threat of terrorism”, one stemming from loners and misfits inspired by online videos and social media.
The PM said: “We must make sure the names of those three girls are not associated with the vile perpetrator but instead, with a fundamental change in how Britain protects its citizens, and children.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage gave the PM’s response short shrift branding him “Cover-Up Keir”.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the release of more information would have helped stop the spread of misinformation.
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The sale of knives with a fixed blade of more than 3in to under-18s is illegal in England and Wales.
But the ban has proved far from effective. The National Police Chiefs’ Council is reviewing knife crime and will report back this year.
The National Business Crime Centre said 160 sales were made to children in London in a year, often by retailers who lacked knowledge or confidence on the issue.
Amazon said: “We take our responsibility around the sale of all age-restricted items — including bladed products — extremely seriously and have launched an urgent investigation in relation to this tragic case.”
Its spokesperson said ID checks are made whenever an order is placed, and when its drivers hand over a parcel containing an age- restricted item.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
They added: “The product in question was subject to age verification checks on delivery.”
Rival marketplace Ebay prohibits the sale of all knives on its UK site, with the exception of cutlery.
Timeline of events related to the Southport stabbings
AXEL Rudakubana has pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, and 10 counts of attempted murder.
Here is a timeline of events relating to the case:
2002: Rudakubana's father Alphonse moves to the UK from Rwanda, according to an interview he gave to his local newspaper in Southport in 2015.
August 7, 2006: Rudakubana is born in Cardiff, Wales.
2013: The family - including Rudakubana's father, mother and older brother - move from Wales to Banks in Lancashire, a few miles from Southport.
July 29, 2024: Shortly before midday, a knifeman enters a dance class at The Hart Space in Hart Street in Southport.
Bebe, Elsie and Alice are fatally wounded. Eight other children are injured, as are instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Police say they have detained a male and seized a knife.
Within hours, claims spread online that the suspect is an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat in 2023.
Some claims include an alleged identity.
July 30, 2024: In the evening, a peaceful vigil is held outside Southport's Atkinson arts venue, where flowers are laid in memory of those who died.
Shortly after the vigil, a separate protest begins outside the town's mosque in St Luke's Road.
People throw items towards the mosque, property is damaged and police vehicles are set on fire.
July 31, 2024: Demonstrators gather in Whitehall, London, for an "Enough Is Enough" protest.
Flares and cans are thrown at police and more than 100 people are arrested.
Disorder also breaks out in Hartlepool, County Durham, and Aldershot, Hampshire.
August 1, 2024: Police announce that Rudakubana has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
He is not named by police because of his age.
He appears in court in Liverpool and Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC rules he can be named, as he is due to turn 18 in a week.
He initially smiled on entering the courtroom - then kept his face covered by his sweatshirt for the remainder of the proceedings before the case was adjourned.
Later that evening, demonstrators gather outside a hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester.
August 2, 2024: Three police officers are taken to hospital after disorder in Sunderland.
August 3, 2024: There are scenes of violence during planned protests across the UK, including in Liverpool, Hull, Nottingham and Belfast.
August 4, 2024: Disorder continues, including outside a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where masked demonstrators launch lengths of wood and sprayed fire extinguishers at police officers.
August 5, 2024: The Government holds an emergency Cobra meeting in the wake of the disorder and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vows to "ramp up criminal justice".
That evening, a peaceful vigil is held in Southport, a week on from the killings. Police deal with disorder in Plymouth, Devon and Darlington, County Durham.
August 7, 2024: Prison sentences for those involved in the unrest begin to be handed out. Derek Drummond, 58, is the first person to be jailed for violent disorder at Liverpool Crown Court, where he is sentenced to three years.
More than 100 protests are planned for across the country, with counter-demonstrations taking place, but the majority of police forces report very little trouble.
October 29, 2024: Merseyside Police announces Rudakubana will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink the next day charged with production of a biological toxin, Ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
October 30, 2024: Rudakubana appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink from HMP Belmarsh to face the two new charges.
He holds his sweater over the bottom half of his face and does not respond when asked to confirm his name.
November 13, 2024: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court via videolink. He covers his face with his grey sweatshirt and does not speak throughout the hearing.
About 20 family members of victims sit in the public gallery. The case is adjourned until December 12, when a preparatory hearing will take place.
January 20, 2025: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court for the first day of his trial where he pleads guilty to all 16 charges, including the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
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