Teen who planned knife attack on Oasis opening night charged
A 17-year-old student in Wales has been charged in relation to a planned knife attack, set to take place on the opening night of the Oasis reunion tour in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on July 4th.
The teenager, who remains anonymous due to his age, plotted an attack in the style of Axel Rudakubana, the 18-year-old who pleaded guilty to the murder of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class taking place in Southport in 2024.
Inspired by Rudakubana, prosecutors on the case claimed that the teenager kept a note on his phone with the header “places to attack,” under which he’d listed a dance school near his home, as well as his own school. He also allegedly told his school councillor that he planned to carry out a similar attack; the councillor quickly reported the intel.
His worrying behaviour also extended to his online antics. Allegedly, he researched and saved images of Rudakubana, made posts on Snapchat which mocked the Southport victims, and praised the murderer. He also expressed his desire to carry out a similar attack in chats with others; someone he chatted to on Snapchat reported this behaviour to the police.
The teenager was charged with the possession of a document useful for terrorism, which he has since admitted to. This was related to an al-Qaeda training manual downloaded on his mobile phone, the very same Rudakubana had in his possession.
However, prosecutors could not charge the teenager with planning to carry out a terrorist attack because he “did not espouse an ideology that fit the legal definition of terrorism in the UK,” according to Rolling Stone.
Oasis made their long-awaited return after 16 years apart to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on July 4th, where 75,000 fans were there to cheer them on. Since the initial announcement of UK and Irish dates in August of last year, the Gallagher brothers have also confirmed shows in North America, South America, Australia, and East Asia.
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