Southport attacker ordered multiple weapons using false IDs to bypass age checks, inquiry told

• This article contains images of weapons

The Southport attacker ordered a number of dangerous weapons to his home in the run-up to the brutal murders - using false identities to pass age verification checks, the public inquiry has heard.

The killer systematically and persistently built up the stockpile of weapons, ordering them from online retailers, hoarding items such as machetes, knives and a sledge hammer.

The inquiry, at Liverpool Town Hall, is examining Axel Rudakubana’s - often referred to as AR - dealings with relevant agencies before he carried out his violent attack.

Three girls, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were murdered in the incident on 29 July 2024, with the attacker attempting to murder 10 others.

In his opening statement, counsel to the Southport Inquiry Nicholas Moss KC said the inquiry would establish a definitive account of the attack as well as relevant events leading up to it, including a timeline of the attacker’s history and “interactions with various state systems including criminal justice, education, social care and healthcare”.

He told the inquiry: "The clear and direct responsibility for the attack is the egregious criminal conduct of AR himself.

"In phase one our main focus is on assessing how the risk he posed was addressed by those agencies who had dealings with him."

The inquiry heard how in 2023 alone the teenage killer ordered six weapons, including three machetes - one of which had a 30cm blade - to his home address in Banks, Lancashire.

When delivered, the hearing was told, they were, it is believed, often received and signed for by his father.

The attacker used false identities to pass online age verification checks - using driving licences of a woman named 'Alice' and a middle-aged man called 'Samuel' on two occasions.

He would also make a point of contacting retailers before placing an order to see how the item would be packaged, Mr Moss KC said.

One exchange read: “I would prefer discreet packaging which doesn't provide any information on what is inside the box.

"Could I see a photo of what the external packaging of your products look like?”

He was told, “We use grey packaging bags when sending out a crossbow. This is so that no one is able to see what is inside”.

The killer was jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years in January at Liverpool Crown Court, after admitting the “sadistic” murders and 10 attempted murders.

The court heard the teen did not have any particular terrorist cause and his motivation was mass murder as an end in itself.

It also emerged he had been repeatedly referred to Prevent, the police and government anti-terror programme, he had attacked a school pupil with a hockey stick, used school computers to look up the London Bridge terror outrage, and carried a knife on a bus and into class, before he carried out the Southport murders.

His possession of an al Qaida manual and his attempts to make the poison ricin was also disclosed in court.

But the inquiry on Tuesday heard new details about his disturbing online activity.

Mr Moss, in his opening address to the inquiry, said examining the killer's internet usage would help understand his motivation.

He said though no religious or other terrorist ideology has been identified, the families of the victims want to know “how that conclusion was reached”.

The teen deleted his internet browsing history on some devices on the day of the attack, but used one device to search on social media platform X for the knife attack on a bishop in Australia.

He searched for the video just minutes before taking a taxi and 40 minutes later launched his attack.

Mr Moss said the timing of this was “sobering and concerning”.

Police also found a photo of so-called Islamic State terrorist Mohammed Emwazi, known as “Jihadi John”, an image of a wolf dressed in a suit with the caption “Just be a lone wolf bro”, and an image of Adolf Hitler.

Mr Moss said “very disturbing” images and screenshots from his devices contained images of religious insensitivity, violence, graphic injuries, slavery including of women, weapons, warfare, mistreatment of women and Nazi Germany.

There were passages from the Koran but also a significant amount of anti-Islamic and antisemitic material.

The inquiry will also look at how much the killer's family knew about his activities.

A criminal investigation by Merseyside Police found there was no evidence his parents or brother shared his interest in violence or that they knew what he was looking at online.

But the inquiry’s requested detailed statements from the family to find out exactly what they knew about his online orders and the items he stored in his bedroom and family’s living room.

Earlier, Sir Adrian Fulford, chairman of the inquiry, promised to do everything “humanly possible” to answer the questions of bereaved families and victims.

Mr Moss said the inquiry would establish a “definitive account” of the attack, the background and the killer’s involvement with state agencies, including police, schools and social services.

In the hours after the stabbing, information spread online which claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.

Unrest broke out across parts of the UK. Mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers were among the locations targeted and more than 1,000 arrests were made.

The inquiry was adjourned until Wednesday, when opening statements from core participants, including the families of the girls killed and injured, will be heard.

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