A lawyer for the families of the children murdered by Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has said his transfer from prison to a psychiatric hospital may be an attempt to “manipulate the system” and added “being evil does not mean that you’re suffering with psychosis”.<\/p>\n
Rudakubana, 19, was given a life sentence for the murder of three children – Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7 – and attempted murder of eight other children and two adults.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, he was moved from HMP Belmarsh to Broadmoor psychiatric hospital in Berkshire.<\/p>\n
Prisoners who are considered to present a risk to staff, inmates or themselves because of mental disorders can be moved to hospital under the Mental Health Act.<\/p>\n
Next Wednesday marks two years since Rudakubana carried out the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July 2024.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Chris Walker, who represents the three bereaved families, said they “don’t believe the merits” of the transfer on the basis of a mental health issue and is calling for more information from ministers.<\/p>\n
“In my mind this is a new event, this is something which occurred whilst he was at prison, and we at this stage don’t believe the merits of it in terms of him because I’ve seen no evidence at all until today which suggests he has a significant mental health disorder,” Walker told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.<\/p>\n
“We do have an evil person but being evil does not mean that you’re suffering with psychosis of some sort.<\/p>\n
“We need to know is this a single event, is this a recurring event, is this him playing the system and we need those answers.”<\/p>\n
The Prison Officers’ Association told the BBC that Rudakubana was transferred due to a deterioration in his mental health.<\/p>\n
Walker added in a separate statement that the news would “devastate” the families at any time but “the fact that this has occurred as we approach the second anniversary in our view is another move by AR who would appear to be attempting, once again, to manipulate the system”.<\/p>\n
“We have been given the barest of details and whilst we are supporting the families through this we are urgently seeking a meeting with the appropriate authorities to understand the situation before commenting further.”<\/p>\n