Axel Rudakubana, who has confessed to murdering three young girls during a dance class in Southport, was referred to Prevent—the UK government’s counter-extremism programme—on three separate occasions, The Guardian has revealed.

Concerns about Rudakubana’s potential interest in violent acts, including a school massacre, were raised during one of these referrals. Prevent assessed his behaviour as potentially worrying but concluded he was not driven by a terrorist ideology or posed a terrorist threat. As a result, he was deemed unsuitable for the counter-radicalisation programme.

Rudakubana’s first referral to Prevent occurred in 2019 when he was just 13 years old. Two further referrals followed in 2021 while he was still a school student living in Lancashire.

Following one of the referrals, it was recommended that Rudakubana be directed to other support services, though it is unclear whether this recommendation was acted upon.

The now 18-year-old carried out the horrific attack last summer when he was 17, taking the lives of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Questions are now being raised about whether opportunities to intervene earlier were missed.