Triple killer Axel Rudakubana had his prison supervision downgraded shortly before allegedly scalding a guard with boiling water at HMP Belmarsh, it has been reported. The 18-year-old is accused of heating water in a kettle in his cell and pouring it over a prison officer during an incident on Thursday.
The officer was taken to hospital but discharged the same evening and is expected to return to work next week. Rudakubana was jailed in January for a minimum of 52 years for the murders of three girls and the attempted murders of eight other children, a class instructor and a businessman. He murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed workshop in Southport on July 29 last year.
Ten others were injured, including class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
The Sun reported that Rudakubana’s supervision level was downgraded in recent weeks. He had previously been held in a healthcare unit under constant observation.
A Prison Service spokesperson said on Friday: “Police are investigating an attack on a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh yesterday.
“Violence in prison will not be tolerated and we will always push for the strongest possible punishment for attacks on our hardworking staff.”
Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the Prison Officers Association (POA), said: “Why are we giving people like Rudakubana the same privileges and freedoms as other inmates? It makes no sense.
“We have to base everything on risk and don’t give access to things with which they can attack staff.
“We have to have super-max security units, based on the American system, for inmates like him. Prisoners like this are not going to reform or rehabilitate.”
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the alleged incident underlined the growing risk to officers inside high-security prisons.
He posted a video on X in which he said: “Since when did the right of a sick criminal to make a cup of tea come before the safety of a prison officer?
“On Thursday, we’re told, the Southport killer, Axel Rudakubana, attacked a prison officer with boiling water. The officer was hospitalised. My thoughts are with him and his family.
“This wasn’t an isolated case. For weeks, I have warned about the safety of prison officers in some of our highest security prisons.
“Just a few weeks ago, one of the terrorists behind the Manchester Arena bombing attacked prison officers with a makeshift weapon and boiling oil, which he’d somehow managed to get hold of despite being in a supposed segregation centre in a top security prison.
“Well enough is enough. We must never put the rights of criminals and terrorists above the safety of prison officers. Labour’s Justice Secretary needs to get a grip or else I fear it is only a matter of time before a prison officer loses their life.”
The number of assaults on staff in adult prisons in England and Wales has reached its highest level in a decade, according to Ministry of Justice figures. Some 10,605 assaults were recorded in 2024, up from 9,204 in 2023 and nearly three times the 3,640 recorded in 2014.
Four guards were attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons by Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi at HMP Frankland in April. The convicted terrorist was later transferred to Belmarsh following the incident.
In response to the rise in attacks, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood previously announced that tasers will be trialled in prisons, and confirmed a “snap review” is under way into the use of protective body armour for officers.