A review into the agencies which had contact with Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana will start this February.
The child safeguarding practice review (CSPR) will be held in the wake of the killer being jailed for 52 years after he murdered three young girls and wounded several children and adults at The Hart Space in Southport on 29th July last year.
Three experts will examine the roles of the services that dealt with Rudakubana, of Banks in West Lancashire, in the years before he committed his massacre.
A lead reviewer has been appointed and set-up meetings held ahead of work commissioned by Lancashire Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership.
The partnership – made up of Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Constabulary and the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, exists to improve how agencies work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
It requests CSPRs in an attempt to learn from incidents in which children have been harmed and to reduce the risk of similar cases happening in future.
Following Rudakubana’s guilty pleas – of which there were 16 in total, including to 10 attempted murders – Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an independent public inquiry would also be held.
It is not known how long either process will last.
Rudakubana had been involved with agencies as far back as 2019, including with Lancashire Police, after taking a knife into school in October that year and following the assault of a pupil with a hockey stick three months later.
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