Axel Rudakubana, a 20-year-old serving a life sentence for multiple murders, is due to stand trial on charges related to assaults at two high-security prisons. Rudakubana appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink from Broadmoor hospital, where he faces four charges connected to incidents that occurred between 2024 and 2025.

Among the charges is an allegation that Rudakubana attempted to cause grievous bodily harm on May 8, 2024, by throwing boiling sugar syrup through a cell door hatch at Belmarsh prison in South London. He is also accused of two separate assaults on prison officers: one involving a female officer on May 6, 2024, and another involving a male guard on October 28, 2024. In addition, Rudakubana faces a charge of possessing an offensive weapon inside the prison on June 26, 2025.

Rudakubana did not enter a plea during the hearing, and a two-week trial has been scheduled to begin on October 4.

The defendant is serving a life sentence for the murders of three children—Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven—committed in July 2024. He was also convicted of attempting to kill ten others during the same incident. The new charges stem from several allegations of violent behavior while in custody. The case highlights ongoing concerns about prisoner safety and security measures within the UK’s high-security prisons.