Southport murderer bought weapons and ricin-making equipment two years before attack

Police at the scene of the July 2024 attack in Southport, Merseyside. Rudakubana had ordered weapons on Amazon using security software to hide his identity. Photograph: James Speakman/PA

The Southport killer, Axel Rudakubana, bought a cache of deadly weapons, including equipment to make the lethal poison ricin, on Amazon at least two years before he murdered three young girls last summer, it can be revealed.

The “extremely violent” 18-year-old bought items to make ricin in 2022, three years after he came to the attention of the anti-radicalisation programme Prevent, the police and other authorities.