Southport killer Axel Rudakubana
Axel Rudakubana is to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital after allegedly attacking an officer. Merseyside Police

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been transferred from HMP Belmarsh to Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital after an independent clinical assessment concluded he could no longer be managed safely in prison, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed.

The transfer was approved under the Mental Health Act 1983 and does not affect Rudakubana's life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years.

The MoJ said he will continue serving every day of the custodial sentence imposed by the court, but did not disclose the clinical reasons behind the assessment.

The move follows an alleged incident at Category A HMP Belmarsh in May 2025, when Rudakubana is accused of attacking a prison officer with boiling water heated in a kettle inside his cell.

The officer was taken to hospital as a precaution, later discharged, and police launched an investigation into the incident.

Prison Union Criticises Decision

The transfer drew criticism from the Prison Officers' Association (POA), which argued the decision risked rewarding violent behaviour and questioned whether Rudakubana should be treated in a secure psychiatric hospital.

POA national chair Mark Fairhurst claimed Rudakubana was 'playing the system' and said he believed the offender should spend the rest of his sentence in solitary confinement.

The MoJ said the transfer followed a robust independent clinical assessment and stressed that Broadmoor remained a high-security hospital.

A spokesperson said Rudakubana would continue serving his 52-year custodial sentence, remain under constant supervision in a high-security psychiatric hospital and be returned to prison as soon as clinicians determine hospital treatment is no longer necessary.

The spokesperson added that high-security hospitals are 'not places of freedom.'

Transfer Does Not Change His Sentence

Under the Mental Health Act, prisoners transferred to secure psychiatric hospitals remain subject to their original prison sentences.

If clinicians later determine hospital treatment is no longer necessary, they must be transferred back to prison.

Officials are required to approve transfers that meet the statutory clinical criteria.

Broadmoor, in Crowthorne, Berkshire, is England's oldest high-security psychiatric hospital and is operated by West London NHS Trust.

Patients receive treatment under high-security conditions and can be returned to prison if hospital care is no longer required.

The Centre for Mental Health estimates that a secure hospital bed costs about £270,000 ($360,000) a year, compared with an average annual cost of £97,740 ($130,000) to hold a prisoner at Belmarsh, according to MoJ figures.

Background to the Case

Rudakubana, now 19, was jailed for life in January 2025 after pleading guilty to murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, during an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024.

He also admitted the attempted murder of eight other children, dance instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, along with producing the biological toxin ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual.

The sentencing judge could not impose a whole-life order because Rudakubana was 17 when the murders were committed, although he said the offender was unlikely ever to be released.

The Southport Public Inquiry heard that Rudakubana received mental health care through Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust between 2019 and 2023 before disengaging from treatment.

It also heard he was referred to the Government's Prevent programme on three occasions because of concerns about his obsession with violence and his online searches for school massacres.

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