What was claimed
The Southport attacker, Axel Rudakubana, has suffered a violent assault and been attacked by another prisoner while in prison.
Our verdict
False. The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the claim is untrue and he has not been attacked.
A false claim that the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been attacked in prison has been circulating online.
Facebook posts making the claim, which appear to resemble a breaking news report for an outlet called N24 News, have gained thousands of reactions and comments. The graphic includes Rudakubana’s mugshot, and text saying: “HE HAS BEEN ATTACKED YET AGAIN IN PRISON.
“Inmate suffers another violent assault behind bars; condition currently unknown.”
It states that the “inmate was attacked by another prisoner” adding it is not the first time he has been assaulted, and an investigation is underway.
But this is false. There is no matching genuine report of Rudakubana being attacked from any media outlet, and the Ministry of Justice told Full Fact that the claim is not true, and he has not been assaulted in prison.
Join 73,000 newsletter subscribers who trust us to check the facts
Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.
We have previously debunked other false claims shared in 2025 that he was seriously attacked in his cell.
Rudakubana was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in January 2025 after pleading guilty to murdering Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, Bebe King, 6, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, at a dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024. He was also sentenced for the attempted murder of 10 other people, alongside other offences.
Rudakubana also allegedly poured boiling water over a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh in May 2025, and was reportedly subsequently moved to a segregation cell.
Before sharing content like this that you may come across on social media, it’s important to consider whether it comes from a verifiable and trustworthy source. Our Full Fact toolkit can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that Axel Rudakubana has not been attacked in prison.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Fact checking claims made by politicians, public figures and viral online content can give you the full picture backed by the evidence.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.