The father of Southport mass murderer Axel Rudakubana suggested that the difficulties assimilating into British society as a migrant family may have had an impact on his son’s mental state before he went on a stabbing spree at a children’s dance party last year that left three young English girls dead.
The legacy media and police have sought to downplay the role that immigration played in the Southport massacre, initially only stating that Rudakubana was “originally from Cardiff” before later admitting that he was the child of Rwandan migrants. However, the killer’s father, Alphonse Rudakubana, told the inquiry into the mass stabbing that his son was impacted and isolated as a result of feeling disconnected from Britain as a second-generation migrant.
Speaking about his two sons to the inquiry, the killer’s father said per the BBC: “I think what affected them was that we were a small family with two friends from Rwanda [in the UK].”
“They could see that we are kind of lonely compared to their peers, their friends from school. So they’ll see that we are in a foreign land even though they were born here.”
The struggles for the children and even grandchildren of migrants integrating into British society have long been documented. Indeed, a 2015 report from the University of Birmingham’s Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) found that “second and third generation immigrant and diaspora communities may experience ‘cultural marginalisation’ in terms of alienation and lack of belonging to either home or host society, which can render them vulnerable to radicalisation.”
“The separation of religion from culture of origin has led some Muslim diasporas to identify with the global Islamic community and show solidarity to Islamic war victims worldwide. This could lead to radicalisation when combined with anti-Imperialistic phraseology,” the report added.
Although Rudakubana was referred to the government’s Prevent anti-terror programme on multiple occasions — though dismissed as a threat by officials each time — and was found to have possessed an Al-Qaeda training manual, in addition to the precursors for the biological weapon ricin, authorities did not charge him with terrorism for the 2024 mass stabbing that left three young girls dead and ten others injured as their was allegedly no ideological motive behind the attack.
However, this was undermined by the killer’s brother, Dion Rudakubana, who also testified before the inquiry this week. When asked what he thought motivated his brother to commit such a heinous attack, Dion said that he believed Axel specifically targeted children as it would “hurt society particularly badly”.
“Children are very valuable to society in they are society’s future. This is only a thought I have had in retrospect,” he said.
Dion went on to reveal that he was concerned about seeing his brother leave the house on the morning of the attack, given that he had not seen him leave for nearly two years following his previous arrest in 2022 for carrying a knife onto a bus.
When questioned if he thought his brother would commit an attack, he said: “Initially, potentially, yes.” However, he claimed that there were not sufficient grounds for him to contact the police to share his concerns.
Rudakubana’s father apologised before the inquiry for failing to confront his son’s violent behaviour, admitting that he was “ashamed” of his response to violent outbursts and that his failures as a parent came with “catastrophic consequences for which I’m desperately sorry”.
The inquiry heard that the would-be child killer had threatened to murder his father, once pouring a bottle of oil over his father’s head and saying: “Trust me, I will kill you.”
The inquiry previously heard that days before the attack, the attacker’s father had discovered a bow and arrow set and chemicals in his son’s room. Despite this, and knowledge of his son’s violent history and tendencies, he also failed to contact the police.
The inquiry continues…
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