Southport killer Axel Rudakubana moved to psychiatric hospital

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana moved to psychiatric hospitalImage source, Getty ImagesByTom SymondsPublished14 minutes agoAxel Rudakubana, who murdered three children at a dance class in Southport, has been moved from prison to a secure psychiatric hospital.The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed he will be transferred from HMP Belmarsh to Broadmoor, the high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire.Rudakubana murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and injured eight other children and two adults in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July 2024.He was given a 52-year prison sentence in January 2025 but the judge was unable to impose a whole life order due to Rudakubana being 17 when he carried out the attack. He will likely never be released.The then Attorney-General Lord Hermer said Rudakubana's sentence was the "second-longest sentence imposed by the courts in English history".A spokesperson for the MoJ told PA: "The families of those murdered and injured in Southport will be in this country's heart forever and our thoughts remain with them."Any decision to transfer an offender is made following an independent, clinical assessment, under the Mental Health Act. Following rigorous security checks, the offender has been transferred to a high-security psychiatric unit, where he will remain until assessed fit to return to prison."Officials have approved this transfer, on behalf of Ministers. This transfer does not change his sentence – which remains at 52 years – and of which he will serve every single day."The cost of keeping Rudakubana in hospital is likely to be much higher in Broadmoor than a prison. According to the Centre for Mental Health the average secure hospital bed costs around £270,000 a year.The average cost of keeping a prisoner in Belmarsh is £97,740 according to figures for 2023.Broadmoor is the oldest of the UK's three high-security hospita...