TWO teenagers are understood to have been arrested in separate “copycat” cases after allegedly trying to emulate the Southport killer.
The boys, aged 17 and 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, planned attacks on schools and dance school, according to The Times.
Axel Rudakubana was sentenced to life in prisonCredit: PA
Rudakubana was rejected by Prevent three timesCredit: AFP
Neither has been charged with preparing terrorist acts, as prosecutors do not regard attacks on schoolchildren or misogynistic violence as “ideological.”
Instead, both face lesser offences.
Axel Rudakubana was 17 when he murdered Bebe King, Elsie Stancome and Alice Aguiar in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.
He was later sentenced to life in prison.
In a new case, from June, a 17-year-old from Cwmbran, South Wales, discussed copying Rudakubana and researched buying large knives.
Police discovered a note on his phone titled “places to attack,” which contained images of a nearby dance school and directions to reach it.
Location data showed he had been close to the school only days earlier.
He also researched potential attacks on his own school and told others on Snapchat that he planned to target the Oasis concert on July 4.
He pleaded guilty to possessing a document useful for terrorism – the same offence for which Rudakubana previously received an 18-month sentence—and will be sentenced in January.
The case has been adjourned for psychiatric reports amid concerns that he has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the same diagnosis as Rudakubana.
In the second case, a 16-year-old from Merseyside allegedly planned to attack a Taylor Swift-themed event while wearing a green hoodie, mirroring Rudakubana.
Prosecutors say he travelled to Southport, collected knives, researched a Swift event, and downloaded the same al-Qaeda manual Rudakubana used to produce ricin.
They also allege he researched high-school shootings and misogynist incels and considered attacking his former school after dropping out.
He was arrested in August and charged with possessing documents useful for terrorism and making threats to kill.
The first phase of an inquiry into the Rudakubana killings concluded on Friday – highlighting missed opportunities to prevent the attack, including inadequate security at out-of-school clubs.
The second phase will examine whether police, social and mental health services are properly equipped to manage young people obsessed with extreme violence.
Under the Terrorism Act, violence must be intended to advance a political, religious or ideological cause.
Young men who do not display such an ideology cannot be charged with preparing terrorist acts, even if they intend multiple deaths.
Prevent referrals involving individuals with “no ideology” have risen sharply in the past year, now accounting for more than half of all cases, although only 7% received intervention.
Axel Rudakubana was rejected by Prevent three times.
In March, former home secretary Yvette Cooper said she planned to “tighten legislation” after Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, warned of a loophole involving violence-fixated individuals and urged the creation of a new offence.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Winstanley of Lancashire Police told the Southport inquiry: “Sadly, there are other children out there with similar interests and behaviours” to Rudakubana.
He said it was “far too easy for our young people, particularly those who are suffering with their mental health, to be influenced and to see [online] material, and to then get access to weapons that allow them to carry out, on occasion, atrocities, the like of which I hope we never see again, but I fear that we will.”
He added that “as a society, there needs to be systemic change” if such risks are to be reduced.
Recent incidents underline the seriousness of the threat.
Nicholas Prosper, 18, murdered his mother, brother and 13-year-old sister with a shotgun in Luton in September last year and intended to attack his former primary school.
In November, a 15-year-old was found with high-powered crossbows, knives and notes about attacking three schools, including his former school in Market Drayton, Shropshire, and two on the Isle of Wight.
Obsessed with school massacres, far-right mass killers and violent online content, he was charged with possessing a document useful for terrorism and multiple weapons offences.
He was later sentenced to 18 months’ detention.
Two young men arrested were planning attacks similar RudakubanaCredit: PA
Those who do not display ideological motivation cannot be charged with preparing terrorist actCredit: Reuters 
