Southport Stabbing Spree, One Year Later

Exactly a year ago, a little girl named Alice told a listening circle at summer camp that “this is the best day of my life.” Then she was stabbed to death.

Her killer is Axel Rudakubana. Disorder broke out across the U.K. almost immediately after he murdered Alice and two other girls in the English town of Southport, yet practically nobody knew who he was, since the law offers certain protections for offenders under age 18. Within days, a judge lifted the anonymity order because there was significant public interest, citing the “idiotic rioting.” And yet, a year after that tragic day, it is as though the only thing we know about Axel Rudakubana is his name. Inconvenient details — his long history with knife crime, his multiple referrals to the authorities, his ties to Islam, his arsenal of weapons, his plans for biological warfare — have been suppressed, and they risk being wholly forgotten. In fact, alternative narratives have been promoted: Netflix released a limited series about a white teenage boy who murdered a girl with a knife because he was radicalized by right-wing politics on the internet, and the prime minister’s office supported efforts to show the drama in school.

About the Author

Abigail Anthony

Abigail Anthony is a staff writer at National Review.

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Exactly a year ago, a little girl named Alice told a listening circle at summer camp that “this is the best day of my life.” Then she was stabbed to death.

Her killer is Axel Rudakubana. Disorder broke out across the U.K. almost immediately after he murdered Alice and two other girls in the English town of Southport, yet practically nobody knew who he was, since the law offers certain protections for offenders under age 18. Within days, a judge lifted the anonymity order because there was significant public interest, citing the “idiotic rioting.” And yet, a year after that tragic day, it is as though the only thing we know about Axel Rudakubana is his name. Inconvenient details — his long history with knife crime, his multiple referrals to the authorities, his ties to Islam, his arsenal of weapons, his plans for biological warfare — have been suppressed, and they risk being wholly forgotten. In fact, alternative narratives have been promoted: Netflix released a limited series about a white teenage boy who murdered a girl with a knife because he was radicalized by right-wing politics on the internet, and the prime minister’s office supported efforts to show the drama in school.