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Axel Rudakubana, who killed three children in a dance hall in Southport, has been moved from prison to a secure psychiatric hospital.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has confirmed that he will be moving from HMP Belmarsh to Broadmoor, a high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire.
Rudakubana killed Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguirre, nine, and killed eight other children and two adults in a July 2024 attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
He was sentenced to 52 years in prison in January 2025, but the judge could not give him a full life sentence because Rudakubana was 17 when he committed the attack. He will never be released.
The then Attorney General, Lord Hermer, said that Rudakubana’s sentence was “the second longest sentence handed down by the courts in English history”.
A MoJ spokesman told the PA: “The families of those killed and injured in Southport will live forever in the hearts of this country and our thoughts are with them.
“Any decision to transfer an offender is based on an independent, clinical assessment under the Mental Health Act. Following strict security checks, the offender is transferred to a high-level psychiatric unit, where he will remain until he is assessed as fit to return to prison.”
“The authorities have approved this transfer on behalf of the Ministers. This transfer does not change the sentence – which remains at 52 years – and will be served every day.”
The cost of keeping Rudakubana in the hospital is likely to be higher in Broadmoor than in prison.
According to a mental health centre, the average secure hospital bed costs around £270,000 a year.
According to 2023 figures, the average cost of keeping a prisoner in Belmarsh is £97,740.
The Broadmoor is the oldest of the UK’s three maximum security hospitals and houses some of the UK’s most high-profile criminals.
It was renovated in 2017 and The BBC has obtained images from the hospital. Old prison-like cells with locks on the doors show that they have been replaced by more spacious rooms.
In the year In May 2025, Rudakubana, now 19, was under investigation after he allegedly assaulted a prison officer over boiling water.
A Southport public inquiry heard evidence about his previous mental health condition.
A senior clinician at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said a “lack of empathy” combined with “violence” and neurodiversity added up to “a truly toxic mix”.
According to West London NHS Trust, Broadmoor specializes in “assessment, treatment and care” for men and is one of the three highest secure psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales.
