Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana will be the “No1 target” in one of the UK’s most notorious prisons, a former inmate has claimed.
The triple child killer has been transferred to HMP Belmarsh in southeast London, a 900-capacity Category A jail where convicted terrorists are also serving time. The 18-year-old will wear a paper jumpsuit to stop him from harming himself, with his cell containing nothing more than a wooden bench, a mattress and a small window, it is understood.
Rudakubana was sentenced on Thursday, 23 January to life with a minimum term of 52 years for the brutal stabbing of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, and trying to kill ten others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July.
A former prisoner at HMP Belmarsh said: “He will be the No1 target in the prison population for the rest of his life after killing those little girls. The screws will know that he can’t come into contact with anyone or else he’ll be attacked. Category A prisons like Belmarsh are powder kegs anyway, but he would get attacked in a heartbeat if anyone can get their hands on him.
“Most likely it would be a group attack. They won’t mind doing a few more years for the kudos of giving him a kicking, stabbing him, or worse.”
Speaking to The Sun, the former prisoner continued: “He will have nothing until the warders are confident he has accepted his fate. He will be kept separate from everyone. He won’t be allowed to walk past a cleaner for fear of attack.
“He will be banged up 23 hours a day, his food will be brought to his cell and then he’ll get an hour in the yard to walk around. If other prisoners can see him from their cells while he’s in the yard, they’ll let him know the danger.”
All prisoners have a meeting with a psychologist or psychiatrist upon arrival at the jail near Thamesmead. They are then given either a normal cell with some home comforts, such as a TV and kettle, or the most basic stripped back “bare cell”, the Mirror reports.
Rudakubana, from Banks, Lancashire, was given the latter where it is said fellow prisoners will “get him” if the opportunity arises. Sara Sharif’s killer dad Urfan, who is serving his sentence at Belmarsh, had his throat slashed despite being under close supervision.
Mark Fairhurst, Prison Officers’ Association national chair, said: “His life will be absolute hell. He is target No1. He’ll be looking over his shoulders for 52 years. Any chance they can get him, they will.
As Rudakubana was convicted of murder, rather than terrorism offences, it is unlikely he will be offered any protection by Islamist-inspired killers such as Hashem Abedi, brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman.
Sara Stanger, a solicitor representing the three girls’ families, said on Friday it was “shocking for everyone to see the number of missed opportunities” to stop Rudakubana before his murders. She said the families were reassured by the length of his sentence.
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