LONDON (Reuters) – A British teenager on Wednesday had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf to charges of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in northern England in July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, did not speak when asked when asked at Liverpool Crown Court if he was guilty or not guilty of killing the girls aged between six and nine who were at a Taylor Swift dance event in Southport.
Not guilty pleas were also entered over charges of 10 attempted murders, producing the deadly poison ricin and the possession of an al Qaeda training manual. He is due to go on trial in January.
British-born Rudakubana was arrested shortly after the attack on the summer vacation event for children in the quiet seaside town north of Liverpool. Police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorist-related.
Large disturbances broke out in the town after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant.
The disturbances spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer blaming the riots on far-right thuggery.
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tobin; Editing by Kate Holton)
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