The intolerable crisis of angry young men
What will it take for the government to treat young male rage with the seriousness it requires? And our Southport Lead editor writes on this weeks sentencing.
Another week is marked by harrowing violence against women and children, perpetrated by young, angry men.
On Thursday, Axel Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls and attempting to kill eight other children and two adults at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July 2024.
A day earlier, 26-year-old Kyle Clifford, from Enfield, admitted to the murders of mother Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25. Clifford killed them in Bushey last year, using a knife and a crossbow.
On the same day, Birmingham was rocked by the news that a 12-year-old boy, Leo Ross, had died after being stabbed on his way home from school. A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
It is tempting to dismiss these incidents as isolated horrors—rare cases of radicalisation or psychopathology. But ask a woman or child, they may tell you a different story.
Women across the country live in constant fear of male violence. Two women are murdered every week in the UK, though many of these deaths never make national headlines. Lower-level violence pervades women’s lives, from controlling or coercive partners to random men who inflict daily acts of sexual harassment without a second thought.
Children face a similar, growing threat. Teenage victims of violence have increased by 25 per cent in just a year, and the number of young people killed or hospitalised for knife assaults has risen over the past decade. One-third of teenagers now say they avoid certain areas, and over a quarter alter their travel routes or avoid public transport due to safety concerns. These children talk about the impact this fear has on their lives: disrupted sleep, reduced appetite, and difficulty concentrating at school.
Beneath these statistics lies a disturbing trend. Rudakubana - who was aged just 17 at the time of the attack - drew significant media attention, sparking race riots across the UK during the summer as misinformation spread online about his motivations and immigration status.
But while he was found in possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual, Rudakubana’s motivations were more complex than Islamist extremism. He harbored a morbid and extreme fascination with violent death and genocide.
Prosecutor Ursula Doyle described him as “a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence.”
While Rudakubana had been known to anti-terror officials, he was assessed as “not posing a risk of supporting terrorism or carrying out acts of violence in support of any cause”.
As explained in The Guardian: “Despite months of investigation, combing Rudakubana’s digital devices as well as every inch of his family home, detectives are unable to say why he carried out the worst targeted attack on children in Britain since the Dunblane massacre.”
Rudakubana exemplifies a new breed of male bloodlust—hate-filled, ideology-blurring, and obsessed with suffering for its own sake. This new face of terrorism, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer put it, is characterised by “loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms” who consume violent online content.
Political Journalist Stephen Bush noted MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum’s comments in his annual threat update last year: “We’re encountering more volatile would-be terrorists with only a tenuous grasp of the ideologies they profess to follow, people viewing both extreme right-wing and Islamist extremist instructional material, along with other bits of online hatred, conspiracy theories and disinformation”.
While Rudakubana’s choice to attack a dance class may never be fully known, it is hard to ignore the visceral hatred of women and children that must have driven such an atrocity.
Clifford’s actions, though more familiar as an act of domestic violence, were no less chilling: a cold-blooded attempt at family annihilation. Yet, unlike Rudakubana’s case, the media refrained from labelling Clifford’s actions as “terrorism,” despite his clear intent to terrorise, possess and dominate three women in the moments leading up to their deaths. And while Leo Ross’s attacker remains a mystery, the broader pattern is clear: a generation of young men increasingly at risk of, or obsessed with, violence.
The government is sleepwalking into a crisis of its young men. Rising youth violence correlates with cuts to community funding. Nearly half of London’s youth centres closed over the past decade due to austerity measures, alongside reductions in welfare, education, and addiction services. Unsurprisingly, serious youth violence in London rose during this period, and across the UK, areas with the steepest youth budget cuts have seen the largest increases in knife crime.
Deprived of safe spaces, where do young people go? The internet. A Wild West where lawmakers have failed to regulate harmful content across social media. Vulnerable, isolated children are at the greatest risk, drawn to violent, radicalising material that dulls their empathy and amplifies their anger.
UK politicians have responded to these cases with handwringing and piecemeal measures: deploying more police, imposing harsher sentences, and tightening knife sale restrictions.
However, these actions barely scratch the surface of the problem. A holistic approach is needed—one that addresses the root causes of young male violence, including isolation, misogyny, extremism, and the toxic online environments that exacerbate these issues. Without meaningful investment in education, youth services, and the resolve to hold tech companies accountable, young people remain vulnerable to online radicalisation, becoming easy prey for bad-faith actors and dark ideologies.
The government must confront the deepening crisis of male violence with the urgency it demands. Ignoring the content flooding into teenagers' phones and the isolation governments have imposed on communities of young people risks creating a generation of men doomed to either prison or the grave.
Rudakubana is a coward, thankfully it is the families voices we heard over and above his moans
By Jamie Lopez, Editor of The Southport Lead, who was at court to see Axel Rudakubana sentenced. He has written extensively on the tragic events last summer - and the senseless disorder which followed. He also appeared on Sky News during Thursday to explain the impact the killings had on the town, the response from the community and try to explain some of the horror and distress felt.
While Axel Rudakubana used his voice to moan, disrupt and pity himself, his victims made theirs' count.
The teenage killer was rightly branded a coward after loudly interrupting his sentencing hearing to complain about pain despite repeatedly being ruled fit to attend by medics. He would eventually be spared having to sit through the hearing.
His victims and their families have held a brave silence in the six months since his evil actions devastated their lives and stole those of three young girls. At Liverpool Crown Court, they had their chance to have their say and it was impossible not to be profoundly moved by their words.
From the parents of the murdered girls describing the ongoing heartbreak they've endured, to the surviving children and adults describing their trauma and guilt, to the defiant teenager who vowed to live her life in a way he would never be able to.
It's a true shame Rudakubana ran away from listening but the rest of the world heard them loud and clear.
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How you can do something positive to help in the wake of Southport
For many people it’s easy to read all the above feeling a sense of dread and frustration. In Southport, as we saw in the aftermath a community came together and there was nationwide support for the families and the town as a whole. That feeling is still there. If you’d like to do something positive, we asked Andrew Brown, editor of Stand Up For Southport, for his thoughts.
Southport Strong Together Appeal
The Community Foundation for Merseyside, in partnership with Sefton Council and Sefton CVS, has activated an urgent fundraising appeal for all those affected by the knife attack in Southport.
The money donated to this Appeal in the first instance will prioritise:
Individuals experiencing bereavement and or serious injury directly impacted by the events on 29th July 2024; people experiencing immediate hardship and psychological injury; plus community relief through local, regional and / or national charities.
Southport Hesketh Round Table fundraiser
This appeal has been set up by the local round table, which fundraises for the local community throughout the year.
They said: ‘As an integral part of this community, we at the Southport Hesketh Round Table feel the deep impact of this tragedy, knowing many of those involved personally.
‘Please donate whatever you can so we can try and build back up the lives affected by this horrific incident.’
Nominate a local hero
Do you know someone involved in what happened in Southport who deserves to be nominated for a top award?
The Grand Pride Of Sefton Awards have 13 categories available including Courage Award, Unsung Hero and more. Nominations are open.
Come and visit Southport
The best way to support Southport? Come and see us!
This is a friendly, welcoming, seaside town with a huge community spirit that has been left devastated by this tragedy over many months.
Now the court case is finally over, and sentencing has happened, we want to encourage people back and enjoy all that Southport has to offer for all the right reasons. You’re guaranteed a warm welcome.
It is Alice, Elsie and Bebe we must all hold in our thoughts this weekend. Not Axel.
Thanks for reading this weekend edition of The Lead, we hope your weekend goes okay and we’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday.
Ed, Zoë, Luke, Sophie, Natalie and all at The Lead
Thank you for such a thoughtful piece. Might be worth considering the sociological development of football which used to provide a unifying force for young men from poor families. It’s now increasingly expensive to watch - even on TV - and the sums of money which change hands are as alienating as they are eye-watering.
And I think society in general seems to welcome violence - often extreme violence - in its popular drama, literature and film tastes. How many of the wildly popular detective shows start with a grisly murder and then the mortuary?