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Teenager stabbed at dance class in England had Al Qaeda handbook
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Teenager stabbed at dance class in England had Al Qaeda handbook

He faces new charges of possessing lethal poison and terrorism charges linked to possession of an Al Qaeda manual

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The teenager accused of killing three girls and wounding ten others in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England refused to speak when he appeared in court on Wednesday.

He faced new charges A terrorism charge related to possession of a deadly poison and possession of an Al Qaeda handbook.

Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court by video link from Belmarsh prison in south London, Axel Rudakubana, 18, pulled his gray tracksuit top over his nose and did not confirm his name or answer other questions.

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“Mr. Defense lawyer Stan Reiz said Rudakubana had also remained silent in previous hearings. “He chose not to answer the question for his own reasons.”

Reiz said Rudakubana had a history of mental health issues.

Rudakubana was accused in August of murdering three girls, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, and stabbing ten more people in the seaside town of Southport in northern England on July 29. Police emphasized that the stabbings were not classified as a “terrorist incident” as the cause is not yet known.

He was indicted on Tuesday on additional charges of manufacturing biological toxins and ricin and possessing information that could be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit a terrorist act.

Merseyside Police said that when they searched his home after the attack, they found the poison and a document on his computer containing an Al Qaeda training manual titled “Military Studies in Jihad Against Oppressors”.

Ricin is derived from the castor plant and is one of the world’s deadliest toxins. There is no known vaccine or antidote and it kills cells by preventing them from making proteins.

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The killings occurred during the first week of summer vacation as nearly two dozen teenage girls danced to Swift’s music at Hart Space, a community center that hosts everything from pregnancy workshops to women’s boot camps.

Rudakubana is also charged with ten counts of attempted murder of eight children and two adults who were seriously injured. Leanne Lucas, who ran the class, and John Hayes, who worked at a nearby business and rushed to help, were credited by police for trying to protect the children.

The stabbings prompted far-right activists to fuel anger against immigrants and Muslims after social media misidentified the then-unnamed suspect as an asylum seeker who had recently arrived in the UK by boat.

Police quickly established that Rudakubana was born in Wales. British media reported that he was raised by Rwandan Christian parents.

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But just hours after a somber community vigil to mourn the Southport victims the day after the stabbings, an unruly mob attacked a mosque near the dance studio, threw bricks and beer bottles at law enforcement officers and set fire to a police van.

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A week of riots spread across England and Northern Ireland. More than 1,200 people were arrested and hundreds were imprisoned.

The judge ordered the new charges to be sent to Liverpool Crown Court; where prosecutors will seek to combine them with murder and attempted murder charges. Rudakubana will have a hearing in Liverpool on November 13.

The new accusations have led to new allegations by some on the political right that the government and police withheld key information about the suspect.

“We don’t know why this information was suppressed,” said Conservative MP Robert Jenrick, one of two candidates to lead the opposition party. “Why did it take the police months to establish the basic facts about this incident that it was reasonable to believe were known within a few hours or a few days after the incident occurred?”

Britain’s contempt of court laws restrict what information can be reported about a suspect before trial, in order to ensure a fair jury trial.

The Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “extremely important that there is no reporting, comment or sharing of information online that could in any way prejudice these proceedings”.

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Many argue that in the age of social media, the rules can be counterproductive.

“If there’s an information gap, particularly in the mainstream media, then there are other voices, particularly on social media, that will try to fill that gap,” said Jonathan Hall, a government-appointed barrister who oversees UK terrorism legislation.

He told the BBC: “There’s quite a bit of information that could be made public, for the most part, and I think I’m detecting that the police are trying to do that.”

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