Axel Rudakubana: Live updates as Southport child killer faces sentencing for murdering three children in knife rampage

In August 2006, Axel Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to parents who had moved to Britain from Rwanda four years earlier.

He lived with his parents and older brother in the Welsh capital for eleven years before they moved to Lancashire.

Described as 'introverted' as a child and 'affectionate' to his mother, Rudakubana was heralded as a 'superstar' at drama school when he appeared as Doctor Who in a BBC Children in Need advert aged 11.

But the first warning sign appeared just two years later when he stormed into his school while being excluded from the premises for bringing in a knife and attacking students with a hockey stick.

The enraged would-be killer was only disarmed after being bravely overpowered by a teacher.

The teen developed a dark interest in extreme violence, which led him to spend hours researching genocide and examining graphic murder videos.

One official said: 'He was absolutely obsessed with genocides.

“He could name every genocide in history and how many people died: Rwanda, Genghis Khan, Hitler. It's all he wanted to talk about.”

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty on Monday as he was about to stand trial for the murder of three children and the attempted murder of eight others plus two adults.

The victims' families were not present to see the teen plead guilty because they believed the trial would begin in full on Tuesday.

Following his confession, it emerged that Rudakubana had been referred to Prevent, the UK's anti-extremism programme, before carrying out the attack.

It was also reported that a week before the knife disaster in Britain, he was planning Britain's first secondary school massacre, but his father evicted him from going to the building.

Hours after the pleas were entered, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a public inquiry would take place to give the people of Southport answers about what happened leading up to the attack.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer then addressed the nation from Downing Street on Tuesday morning to warn Britain was facing a new terrorism threat from “loners and misfits” as he vowed to make changes to protect children.

Police officers are pictured arriving at Liverpool Crown Court this morning ahead of Axel Rudakubana's sentencing.

Sadistic Southport killer Axel Rudakubana will today be sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering three girls and attempting to murder a further ten people.

In what prosecutors described as a 'carefully planned rampage', the maniac wielded a knife as he slaughtered children at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance class in a crime that shocked the nation.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, all died and a further eight children aged between seven and 13 suffered knife wounds, as did dance teacher Leanne Lucas as she tried to protect the children.

Businessman John Hayes, who rushed to the scene from his nearby office and tried to overpower Rudakubana, was also stabbed. Others nearby who heard screams also rushed to the spot and police arrived, putting an end to the gruesome incident.

In 12 minutes of mayhem, Rudakubana, dressed in a green hood and surgical face mask, stabbed as many children as he could, even pulling back a girl when she tried to flee. Ms Lucas' fellow dance teacher Heidi Liddle hid in a toilet with one child.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline's live coverage as Axel Rudakubana is sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court over the Southport attacks.

Rudakubana, 18, has pleaded guilty to 16 charges including the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, while they attended a dance class on July 29 last year.

The killings caused a wave of violence across Britain with unrest in several towns and cities, resulting in the arrest of 1,280 people. Nearly 500 were imprisoned.

Rudakubana's sentencing begins at 11 a.m.

Stay tuned for live updates from the entire hearing, with Richard Marsden reporting from Liverpool Crown Court and Jamie Bullen from London.