Southport attack: families not told for six months about killer’s Prevent referrals

Jason Pye, senior investigating officer, Merseyside police, and Sarah Hammond, chief crown prosecutor, speak to the media last week after the sentencing. Photograph: EPA

The families of those killed or wounded in the Southport attack were not told for six months that the killer had repeatedly been referred to Prevent, the Guardian has learned.

Police knew that Axel Rudakubana had been referred three times to the official scheme aiming to stop people becoming terrorists, less than 24 hours after his arrest at the scene of the atrocity on 29 July 2024.