US EditionAxel Rudakubana: Southport killer asked crossbow sellers about age verification when he was 15, inquiry told
At age 15, Axel Rudakubana made multiple inquiries about crossbow purchase and delivery policies, raising suspicions only in hindsight, before killing three children in 2024.
- On May 3, 2022, Axel Rudakubana, then 15, emailed Tactical Archery UK and Merlin Archery Limited asking about crossbow delivery policies and signed his messages as "A".
- Axel Rudakubana, now 19, had previously amassed knives, machetes, bow and arrows, and castor beans intended for ricin before killing three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on July 29 last year.
- Emails show he requested discreet packaging from Tactical Archery UK and asked Merlin Archery Limited how age is verified at delivery, with a follow-up misaddressed to Tactical Archery.
- Company representatives said they later strengthened security after staff deemed the emails not suspicious but confirmed age verification was needed; Tactical Archery said, `I think we should have reported that.`
- Under current Home Office rules, crossbow sales are restricted but delivery checks are not mandated; Benjamin Jones, managing director of Merlin Archery, called for a centralised government age verification portal.
10 Articles
10 Articles
Southport Attacker Contacted Retailers About Ordering Crossbows, Inquiry Told
The Southport attacker contacted two archery retailers when he was 15 asking if they could deliver crossbows in “discreet” packaging, the public inquiry into the attack has heard. Axel Rudakubana, who killed Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, at the Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year, had sent emails to Tactical Archery and Merlin Archery just over two years before his attack, the South…
Axel Rudakubana: Southport killer asked crossbow sellers about age verification when he was 15, inquiry told
Rudakubana asked one company if a crossbow could be delivered in "discreet packaging" with no indication of what it was on the outside and questioned another firm about how his age would be confirmed - whether online or via the courier, the inquiry heard.
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