A judge entered not guilty pleas for the Southport stabbing suspect on Wednesday, December 18th, after he refused to speak while ‘appearing’ via video link at Liverpool Crown Court.
Axel Rudakubana, who has covered his face and remained silent during previous court appearances, faces charges of murder of three young girls and attempted murder of ten others in the attack at a child dance class this summer.
Rudakubana also stands accused of producing ricin, a biological toxin, and possessing materials relating to the al-Qaeda Islamist terror group. He refused to respond to these charges, too, and not guilty pleas were entered for him.
The accused, who is 18 now but was 17 at the time of the attack, is charged with 16 offences in total.
He reportedly “rocked from side to side during the hearing, and occasionally sat with his head bowed.” Judge Justice Goose said Rudakubana was “mute of malice,” meaning he was wilfully refusing to speak.
Rudakubana is due to face trial at the same court on January 20th, the same day as U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, prompting frustration online about the fact attention will be diverted elsewhere. Commenting, TalkTV presenter Alex Phillips suggested “news channels will be showing back to back coverage of America… as the court announces there will be strict reporting restrictions so as not to ‘prejudice’ the trial.”
The stitch up will continue. Mark my words.
This after Politico told its readers to keep an eye on reactions to the court appearance from “the usual suspects,” in an apparent dig against those keen to scrutinise the trial of an alleged child murderer.
The judge says the trial should last up to four weeks.
