Southport trial latest: Axel Rudakubana to be sentenced for murders of three girls at Taylor Swift dance class

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is set to be sentenced for murdering three young girls in a frenzied knife attack last year.

Rudakubana, 18, stabbed and killed the girls aged between six and nine with a 20cm-long kitchen knife as he ambushed a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside.

Wearing a green hoodie, a surgical face mask and armed with the blade, the then 17-year-old travelled five miles from his family home to the studio where he unleashed his murderous rampage.

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana is due to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court in the morning.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class on July 29.

Rudakubana, 18, of Banks, Lancashire, on Monday admitted the murders, as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

The rules on what can be disclosed before a court case are designed to ensure that victims get the justice they deserve:

In case you missed it yesterday: Home secretary Yvette Cooper has put tech companies on notice, demanding they remove all dangerous content that was accessed by Axel Rudakubana in the lead-up to the Southport attacks.

“Companies should not be profiting from hosting content that puts children’s lives at risk”, she told the Commons.

Announcing a swath of reforms in the wake of the horrific attacks in Southport last year, Ms Cooper said ministers would be “contacting technology companies to ask them to remove dangerous material that he accessed”.

Government critics say Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to crack down on online knife sales is missing the point, many pointing to the failure of authorities to stop Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.

Reform leader Nigel Farage claimed: “The truth is there are murder weapons in every kitchen drawer. What we should be talking about is the total failure to stop this terrorist & the cover-up of information.”

But his former Ukip colleague Henry Bolton called for a ban on knives openly sold as “fashion accessories”.

Knife crime charities have demanded stricter regulation of online marketplaces, because “careless” retailers are making it too easy for young people to buy knives.

Patrick Green, chief executive of knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said the tragedy in Southport showed “how careless the online marketplaces are”.

He added that the ease of online sales is “a damning indictment”, saying: “Retailers are just completely focused on making money and not protecting the public. The law has proved inadequate.

“We need to close the loophole that exists around online marketplaces.

“This isn’t an isolated incident. There have been a number of incidents like this.”

Bruce Houlder, founder of Fighting Knife Crime London, told the PA News Agency that knife crime was “more worrying than ever”.

He said: “I think there should be much tougher legislation. It’s foreseeable that these knives are going to be used to cause injury.”

Mr Houlder added there is “insufficient being done” to stop online retailers selling knives, calling them “complicit in the crimes that eventually get committed”.