'How did Rudakubana come to own an illegal copy of an Al-Qaeda training manual?'
"It is not as easy as people think" reveals British Army serviceman
In October 2024, Axel Rudakubana — the teen charged with the Southport Stabbing — was charged with a second set of offences, including the production of a biological weapon and possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual.
To be found in possession of a “useful” version of the ‘Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual’ carries an automatic terror offence in UK law — the material is prohibited under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Following the announcement of these new charges, people online were quick to point out that, at the time of the Southport attack, the Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual was available — it has since ceased to be available — in UK from High Street bookstores like Blackwell’s and Waterstones.
It could be downloaded online from the United States Military ‘Air University’.
How, then, could it be legal to buy and download this book in the UK if merely being in possession of it is a terror offence?
The book you or I are able to buy and download is a redacted version of the original prohibited document. This is not the version Rudakubana is charged with being in possession.
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy — overseeing the bringing of charges against Rudakubana — hinted her statement that Rudakubana had been found in possession of such illegal copy of this document.
“Possessing information, namely a pdf file entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual” of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
The pertinent phrase here is “of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism” — which is to say, a uncensored manual or a censored manual but with prohibited annotations. A manual, in other words, with the dangerous instructions.
Axel Rudakubana is accused of being in possession of the Al-Qaeda Training Manual between 2021 and 2024. That is three years before the Southport Stabbing.
The question is “How did Rudakubana come to possess this document, as is alleged, and at 15-years-of-age?”
To understand how difficult it is to get ahold of such a training manual, I have been in discussion with a retired British Army serviceman who had specialised in chemical warfare and counter terrorism.
He begins by telling me that these prohibited documents are certainly NOT readily accessible online. GCHQ — the UK's intelligence, security and cyber agency — monitor for attempts to download such items, access website which store these items, as well as monitor for communications attempting to pass on such information. As little as an ill-worded Google search could result in one’s name being flagged and activities monitored and investigated — not only online activities but one’s bank statements, movements, workplaces, connections, and travels.
If one attempts to download or is successfully in downloading one of these prohibited documents, you can expect to be promptly arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 and interrogated.
If Rudakubana had downloaded the Al-Qaeda manual of his own volition, then security services either failed to pick up on his activity or failed to act. Either option entails devastating revelations for the UK Government, both past and present.
However, the charges do not specify that the PDF was downloaded.
The next thing this serviceman revealed is that such prohibited documents are often circulated via computer hardware and to devices which are not internet enabled. This is to prevent a digital ‘paper trail’ and prevent security services from picking up on the illegal activity.
In layman’s terms, the pdf document could have been obtained by Rudakubana via a separate external hard drive, a USB stick, a CD, or even a floppy disk.
Sometimes, a whole electronic device is given to an individual with the PDF pre-downloaded onto it. In practise, this means that Rudakubana could have been given a smart phone, e-reader (e.g. Kindle), or laptop upon which this PDF had already been downloaded.
This has serious ramifications for national security — more serious than failures in GCHQ monitoring — and pulls into question the competency of counter-terrorism and local authorities charged with being vigilant for extremism and radicalisation, particularly in children. For, whilst security service would struggle to pick up on communication which had not taken place online, they could not have failed to pick upon suspicious individuals meeting with children and given them luxury goods.
Let us be clear: Axel Rudakubana would have had to received the PDF from a second or third-party if he obtained the PDF via a device or hard drive.
Someone — a friend or a mentor or community leader, perhaps — who, themselves, possessed the document and provided the manual to Rudakubana at Rudakubana request, or, given the PDF to Rudakubana and encouraged him to read it. It is almost impossible for him to have sourced the PDF via a hardware source of his own volition. Again, he would have had to do some extensive internet searches which would — or should — have been picked up by counter terrorism services.
Such a revelation would transform what started as a lone-wolf story — a bullied, autistic boy lashing out in personal malice or insanity — into a story of collusion, radicalisation, or conspiracy.
Come the trial, the public must be vigilant.
How Rudakubana came to possess this Al-Qaeda manual (as he has been accused) is one of the most important questions which needs to answered in this case, for in this answer is the answer to the even more pivotal questions:
“Did Rudakubana become radicalised to Islam — and how?”
“Are there more young men out there plotting to carry out similar heinous attacks?”
“Just how much did authorities fails to prevent the Southport Stabbing from happening?”
Be warned that the details of the murder and attempted murder — the frenzy and mutilation — will haunt this nation for decades. But under horror’s long shadows yet more twisted horrors can be swept into obscurity and, then, oblivion.
If every guilty party is to be held to account for this massacre, no detail can be forgotten.
Author’s note — option to support my work
I embarked upon this investigation last year because I am of the sincere belief that this case, whilst being handled in a manner which serves the best interests of the accused, is failing to be handled in a manner which serves the best interests of the public and the victims.
As a writer, I knew my standard publishers would not dare to publish the things that I was discovering. I resolved therefore to quit my day job and take the risk to research independently, and make my essays free to read and share in the public domain.
If you would like to support me through my research until such a time I can deem the case closed and return to normal life, the best way to do this is to subscribe to this Substack.
This help is never expected but is forever appreciated.
You can also donate to the ‘Southport Strong Together’ appeal which are supporting the victims of the Southport massacre.
