Two teenagers have been arrested after allegedly trying to copy Axel Rudakubana's killing spree.
Triple child murderer Rudakubana was jailed earlier this year for his attacks in Southport last July, which kicked off a summer of unrest across Britain.
Now, the youths - a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy - have been handcuffed after attempting to carry out "copycat crimes".
The 17-year-old from Cwmbran, South Wales, was the first to be arrested in June, the Mail reported on Monday.
He had discussed copying Rudakubana and had looked into buying "large knives".
Police then found a note on his phone titled "places to attack" - which included images of and directions to a dance school near his home.
Rudakubana murdered Bebe King, six, Elsie Stancombe, seven, and Alice Aguiar, nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
GPS data from the arrested 17-year-old's phone suggested he had been nearby the school just days before his arrest.
Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls in the Southport knife attack in July 2024 | PAHe had also researched potential attacks on his own school, and told others on social media that he planned to target the Oasis reunion concert in Cardiff on July 4.
He has since pleaded guilty to possessing a document useful for terrorism, and will be sentenced in January. His case has been adjourned for psychiatric tests over concerns he may have autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Rudakubana was given an 18-month prison sentence for that offence. He also had ASD.
In the second arrest this year, the 16-year-old boy from Merseyside allegedly planned to attack a Taylor Swift-themed event while wearing a green hoodie - a direct mirror of the lead-up to Rudakubana's murders.
READ MORE ON AXEL RUDAKUBANA:
- Axel Rudakubana's headteacher was 'shut up' by mental health workers who accused her of 'racially profiling a black boy with a knife'
- Axel Rudakubana's brother reveals how family feared 'merciless' murderer would kill them all
- Axel Rudakubana was 'obsessed with Taliban and risked becoming left-wing extremist' aged just 15
PICTURED: Emergency services at Axel Rudakubana's home in Banks, near Southport, the day after his murders
|PA
The teenager is accused of travelling to Southport, collecting knives, researching a Swift event - and downloading the exact same al-Qaeda manual which Rudakubana used to produce the poison ricin at home.
Prosecutors say he researched high school shootings in the States and "incels", and considered attacking his former school after dropping out.
He was arrested this August and was charged with making threats to kill and possessing documents useful for terrorism. He is set to enter pleas in December this year.
An inquiry into Axel Rudakubana's actions in Southport concluded its first phase on Friday
| PANews of the two arrests comes just days after the first phase of the Southport Inquiry concluded, which looked into the missed opportunities to prevent Rudakubana's crimes.
In that, Lancashire Police's Assistant Chief Constable Mark Winstanley warned of how "sadly, there are other children out there with similar interests and behaviours" to Rudakubana.
The probe's second phase will examine whether police and social services are equipped to manage violence-fixated youth in Britain.