An urgent probe has been launched after court files relating to the victims, families and survivors of the Southport attack were accessed in a major data breach.
It is believed that court staff were able to gain access to sensitive files about Axel Rudakubana’s killing spree without approval.
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The significant data breach was only uncovered after the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) conducted a review of its digital systems.
The information – seen by a limited number of people – included sensitive and personal data, which is considered likely to result in a high risk to the victims’ and families’ rights and freedoms.
The breach has now been referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which serves as the country’s data watchdog.
There is no evidence any personal data of the victims, their families or survivors has been shared with third parties.
A spokesman for the MoJ said: “We are appalled that this happened and recognise the distress it will have caused victims, survivors, and their families.
“We apologise to those affected – unauthorised access to court files is completely unacceptable.
“This is now being investigated urgently, and the Prime Minister has asked the Lord Chancellor to oversee this.
“All wrongdoing will be met with extremely firm action.”
The investigation is being spearheaded by the Prisons and Probation Service and the Courts and Tribunals Service.
All those affected by the data breach have been notified.
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Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered by Axel Rudakubana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in July 2024.
Dance teacher Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes were also injured in the attack, alongside eight other children.
Rudakubana was jailed for life in January 2025 and handed a minimum sentence of 52 years for the mass stabbing attack.
The 19-year-old had been serving his sentence at HMP Belmarsh, but he was moved to Broadmoor secure hospital in July after authorities admitted he was unable to be “managed safely” behind bars.
In May last year, while at the category A prison, Rudakubana allegedly attacked a prison officer with boiling water using a kettle in his cell.
The criminal is suspected of “playing the system” as the national chair of the POA union, Mark Fairhust, theorised the teenager was attempting to find more pleasant accommodation.
“[Rudakubana] is not mentally unwell. He is playing the system and is nothing more than evil. He should spend his entire sentence in solitary confinement staring at four walls,” he told The Guardian.
“It is appalling to think that he will now enjoy all the freedoms a secure hospital is forced to give him and even more unjustified is the taxpayer actually paying him benefits because he is now classed as mentally unwell.”
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