What We Know About Axel Rudakubana's Belmarsh Charges

Axel Rudakubana, who is serving a life sentence for murdering three children at a Southport dance class in July 2024, appeared via video link at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday charged with throwing boiling water mixed with sugar at a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh, according to the BBC's account of the hearing, published 21 September 2026.

The 20-year-old faces four separate charges tied to incidents inside the prison, spanning roughly seven months in 2025. Below is what the court was told, drawn from the BBC's report of Monday's hearing.

What is Rudakubana charged with now?

Prosecutor Catherine Pattinson told the court Rudakubana faces the attempted grievous bodily harm of a prison officer, two further charges of assaulting prison officers, and one charge of possessing a knife or other offensive weapon while in custody, per the BBC. He was not asked to enter pleas during Monday's hearing. The four charges together span an eight-day window in May 2025 for two of them, a fifth-month gap to an alleged October assault, and an undated discovery of a hidden weapon, according to the same report.

What happened on 8 May 2025 at HMP Belmarsh?

The most serious charge stems from 8 May 2025, when Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water mixed with sugar through the hatch of his cell door at a prison officer, the BBC reported. Pattinson told the court that prompt medical attention prevented the officer from suffering any lasting injury. The charge on that date is attempted grievous bodily harm, the most serious of the four counts laid out in court.

What other assault allegations does the prosecution describe?

The prosecution set out two additional incidents preceding the 8 May attack and one following it, per the BBC's report. On 6 May 2025, prosecutors allege Rudakubana threatened to soak a female officer outside his cell if she did not pass him a newspaper, then threw an unknown liquid at her through the door hatch — two days before the alleged boiling-water attack on a different officer. On 28 October last year, he allegedly punched a male prison officer in the face while the officer was trying to establish whether Rudakubana had taken his medication, the BBC reported.

The fourth charge concerns possession of an offensive weapon: sharpened stone shards that prosecutors say had seemingly been prised from the floor of his cell and were found stuck to the underside of a shelving unit, according to the BBC. Pattinson told the court that when questioned by a prison officer, Rudakubana said he was keeping the shards for self-defense.

Why was he not asked to enter pleas?

Monday's hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court was a preliminary appearance, and the BBC reported that Rudakubana was not asked to enter pleas to any of the four charges. He spoke only to confirm he could hear the chief magistrate and to give his name and date of birth, per the BBC's account, which described him resting his head on his hand during the hearing and appearing in a pale grey and blue tracksuit top. He appeared from Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital rather than from a prison setting, the BBC noted.

What happens next in the case?

Rudakubana was remanded into custody and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 19 October, according to the BBC. That hearing is where pleas would typically be entered on the four charges: attempted grievous bodily harm, two counts of assaulting prison officers, and possession of an offensive weapon.

The new charges arise separately from Rudakubana's underlying convictions. He is serving a life sentence for the murders of nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, six-year-old Bebe King, and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and he was also convicted of the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults over the July 2024 attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, the BBC reported. Monday's hearing did not revisit those convictions; it concerned conduct alleged to have occurred inside HMP Belmarsh across 2025, more than nine months after the Southport attack.

No sentencing date has been set for the new charges, and no pleas have been entered as of the 21 September 2026 hearing, per the BBC's reporting. The Old Bailey date on 19 October is the next scheduled point in the case.