Locked door made 'incel' teen give up Southport copycat massacre plan
PA MediaAn indiscriminate massacre inspired by the Southport dance class murders may have been prevented when an teenager who idolised killers was locked in his house - and chose to call police himself.
The now 17-year-old from Kirkby in Merseyside stashed a collection of knives and discussed "targets", including a primary school and an LGBT pride event.
But on 6 August last year, 999 operators received a strange and alarming call from the boy - who said he had decided to confess after being unable to escape his back garden.
He told an operator that he believed he may have to kill his mother to get out of the house which would lead to him "doing life and my life's worth nothing".
The details of the case emerged as he was sentenced on Thursday after admitting four counts of possessing information likely to be useful to a person planning or committing an act of terrorism.
Those charges related to him downloading bomb making manuals, terrorist training guides and instructions on how to make ricin.
A charge of making threats to kill had been ordered to lie on the file.
PA MediaHowever, the most chilling part of the case was undoubtedly what had been avoided.
In the 999 call, he described how he had collected four knives in a backpack - which were later found by police.
He told the operator: "I assumed I would be able to go straight out of the door and just do something quick like Jake Davidson."
Davidson was a man also steeped in incel culture who killed five people and injured two others in a mass-shooting in Plymouth before turning the gun on himself.
The boy, who cannot be named, had told police he "lacked empathy and morality" and wanted to get help.
As his electronic devices were searched and his educational and health records were examined a disturbing years-long descent into a dark online world emerged.
The teenager, who had been diagnosed with autism and previously attended a special school, was immersed in online "incel" culture - referring to mostly men who consider themselves "involuntarily celibate" due to social or physical handicaps.
Incel culture has been characterised in large parts by a hatred towards women in particular and society at large - and has been linked to a series of deadly rampages.
Detectives found the teenager admired the crimes of notorious incel killers including Elliot Rodger - who killed 14 people in California in 2014 - and Alek Minassian - who murdered 10 people in Canada in 2018.
But he appeared particularly obsessed with the Southport knife attacker Axel Rudakubana, even buying a green hoodie similar to the one worn on 29 July 2024 when Rudakubana killed three schoolgirls.
In one note found on his phone, the boy wrote: "'[Rudakubana is] a hero. I love him.
"He's the one person I look up to. I felt like he was speaking to me. I felt like all these isolated incidents were speaking to me to act up. He was me. He is the black version of me'."
In other messages he referred to himself as an "Axelcel", and said after the murder of the three girls in Southport he had "never felt more heard, listened to and inspired in my life".
Family handoutsWhen he called 999 on 6 August last year, the boy said his original plan had been to re-enact the Southport attack on its first anniversary - but he could not find an event close enough to home.
Indeed on 13 May 2025, he had travelled to Southport and visited the location of the attack, a dance studio which had been hosting a Taylor Swift themed dance workshop for children when Rudakubana walked in.
He told a friend on TikTok: "77 days until Axel two' and "hopefully more than three", a reference to the number of victims.
In another messages he expressed concern about not getting "many kills".
The teenager's behaviour did not come out of the blue, however, and detectives found he had twice been referred to Prevent - the government's counter-extremism service.
His first referral, in 2021, came after teachers heard him expressing admiration for the ISIS terror group.
However a panel concluded his behaviour was driven by autism rather than ideological extremism and said it had "no ongoing counter-terrorism concerns".
'I'll enjoy slaughtering you'
He was referred again in May 2025, after he was heard speaking about Southport as well as the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
That referral was still being assessed at the time of his arrest.
In TikTok messages to a friend, he gloated about his second referral making him a "true Axelcel" and said he hoped his case would be closed again "like Axel Rudakubana" because he had "no clear ideology".
He also said: "I hope every single non special-needs life is destroyed. Whether by rape murder torture [I don't care] I'll enjoy slaughtering you all."
But there were also signs the boy was troubled by his own obsessions.
At the same time he was researching how to carry out mass killings, he also made searches including "what should I do if I want to kill people" and "UK hotline for thoughts about killing others".
According to sentencing judge Neil Flewitt KC, the 999 call was made "so that the police could stop you".
Judge Flewitt stopped short of sending the boy into custody, telling the court the public would be better protected by intense supervision and support from youth offending services.
He was sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order.
Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's Counter Terrorism Division, said: "This was a deeply concerning case involving a young person who had been drawn towards extreme and violent ideology, with the potential for very serious harm."
She said the boy's young age "could not excuse" his conduct.
"This case underlines the real world consequences of online radicalisation and the importance of early intervention," she said.
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