logo
Rhianan Rudd: 'No indication' groomed girl would take her life

Rhianan Rudd: 'No indication' groomed girl would take her life

BBC News12-03-2025

A Home Office intervention provider has told an inquest a vulnerable teenage girl on an MI5 watchlist showed no signs of taking her own life three days before she did so.The de-radicalisation case worker, named as Witness X, told Chesterfield Coroner's Court she had meetings with Rhianan Rudd, 16, from Bolsover, Derbyshire, in the months before she died.But she said she was not provided with a history of Rhianan's mental health history including previous suicide attempts.Witness X said during their meetings, Rhianan described how she had become radicalised by a far-right extremist after studying World War II at school.
Rhianan, who was autistic and had a history of self-harm, was arrested in October 2020 after downloading bomb-making guides and making verbal threats to "blow up a synagogue".She became the youngest girl to be charged with terror offences in April 2021, aged 15 and was remanded into a children's home as part of her bail conditions.She was placed on a MI5 watchlist and was a "subject of interest" up until her death.The teenager, who Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard was groomed and radicalised online by US-based far-right extremist Chris Cook, was found dead in a children's home in Nottinghamshire on May 19 2022 - five months after the charges were dropped.
Rhianan's mother Emily Carter had referred her daughter to the de-radicalisation programme Prevent in September 2020, but her participation ended when Rhianan was arrested a month later.It started again March 2022 when her charges were dropped after a judge ruled she was a victim of exploitation and grooming.Witness X said she first became aware of Rhianan after being sent a briefing note from Prevent after the terror charges were dropped.In it, the Prevent officer described Rhianan as the "most vulnerable individual she's ever met".Rhianan, in the six sessions she had with Witness X between 4 March 2022 and her death, spoke of raising money for the Red Cross by creating and selling furry costumes and had aspirations of becoming a professional horse jockey after completing an apprenticeship.In the first meeting on 4 March, the teenager described herself as an "internet troll" but said she would not do "anything bad".She added she learned about messaging app Telegram but had "lost her sanity" after joining it, describing it as a "cesspit".Witness X also noted Rhianan spoke in an American accent and had developed this by speaking to 28-year-old Chris Cook online, who was from Ohio.The witness said Rhianan seemed anxious at the start of the meeting but "seemed relaxed at the end".But Edward Pleeth, counsel for the inquest, read from an email from the children's home that Rhianan was "visibly upset" and "shaky" following the first session and staff at the home said "it had not gone well".
A multi-agency meeting decided the meetings should continue but with a focus on relationship building.Witness X said in her notes in another meeting Rhianan could have been showcasing "disguised compliance", with the teenager "telling me things I'd want to hear".The witness told the court she was formally considering psychosis after Rhianan spoke about "two minds in the same body".Jesse Nicholls, counsel for the family asked her: "Were you worried that something was going on with her mental state?"Witness X confirmed she was.
The court heard in the days before a meeting on 27 April, Rhianan was "wearing army camouflage" around the home and expressed a desire to travel to Texas.In the meeting, she said she had a "three-day schizoid" and had been "rocking backwards and forwards" in her room.Rhianan also explained how she met Chris Cook on the online platform Discord who would send her extreme far-right material – including Holocaust denial.The teenager said through the Covid lockdown, she had "lots of available time and had become drawn in".In her final meeting with Witness X on 16 May - three days before she died - Rhianan gave more insight into her radicalisation.Notes from Witness X read to the court stated that Rhianan began learning about World War II at school before being told "this is what really happened" by her mother's US partner, who she described as a "literal Nazi".The notes said Rhianan was sceptical about his theories but they were later "reinforced" when she started talking to Cook.The court heard Rhianan had "enjoyed" the sessions and saw them as an "outlet to discuss things".Mr Pleeth asked Witness X about the final session: "Was there nothing from this session that concerned you and there was no dialogue or behaviour that was alarming or worrying?Witness X said there was not.Asked if there was concerns about self-harm or suicide, Witness X said Rhianan "seemed well in her mental state" and she had no concerns.The inquest continues.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

The dangerous new strategy used by people traffickers to outwit French police and smuggle boat loads of Channel migrants into the UK
The dangerous new strategy used by people traffickers to outwit French police and smuggle boat loads of Channel migrants into the UK

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

The dangerous new strategy used by people traffickers to outwit French police and smuggle boat loads of Channel migrants into the UK

People smugglers are adopting a dangerous new tactic of simultaneously launching multiple small boats at once to try and dodge French police, officials warn. EU border agency Frontex said in an official updated that traffickers were adapting their methods in an attempt to boost the number of successful crossings. EU border agency Frontex said in an official update that traffickers were adapting their methods in an attempt to boost the number of successful crossings. It said the tactic of 'simultaneous departures' was putting more lives at risk by overwhelming search and rescue teams. The risk is being compounded by smugglers packing more migrants into flimsy dinghies, with 54 people per boat in the year ending March 2025 compared with 50 in 2024, according to Home Office figures. Channel crossings continued today, with pictures showing new arrivals wearing life jackets being brought to shore in a Border Force boat in Dover, Kent and being driven away from the port. They are the first to make the journey to the UK so far this month after a record first five months of the year bringing the provisional total so far to 14,812 arrivals. This has also surpassed the highest total recorded for the first six months of the year, which was previously 13,489 on June 30 last year. In 2024, the number of arrivals did not reach more than 14,000 until July 9 (14,058). The surge in Channel crossings came despite Frontex recording a 20 per cent drop in irregular border crossings into the European Union in the first five months of 2025. A major point of contention between Britain and France has been the French authorities' refusal to turn back migrants who are already in the water. The French government has now indicated its willingness to change tactics and turn back boats in the shallows, but are demanding more money to do so. Representatives from both governments are currently negotiating a new deal aimed at cracking down on smuggling gangs which is said to be in the early stages. Since 2015, British governments have spent £800 million to France to stop the crossings of people across the world's busiest shipping lane in small boats. It comes as Rachel Reeves used her spending review to pledge to end the 'costly' use of hotels to house asylum-seekers – but not for up to four years. The Chancellor said migrants would be moved out of hotels by the end of the current Parliament, with the next general election not due until 2029. She also promised £1billion of savings by speeding up the asylum system, along with £280million more investment in future years for the new Border Security Command. 'The party opposite left behind a broken system: billions of pounds of taxpayers' money spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels, leaving people in limbo and shunting the cost of failure onto local communities. We won't let that stand,' Ms Reeves told the Commons. 'So I can confirm today that, led by the work of the Home Secretary, we will be ending the costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this Parliament.' But the Tories said taking asylum-seekers out of hotels would simply move them into rented accommodation across the country, while speeding up asylum decisions would mean more people granted leave to remain. Julia Lopez wrote on X: 'The Home Office just wants people off their books as fast as possible - straight onto the books of local councils. 'That means more positive asylum decisions - only making it more attractive to cross. And so it will go on.' Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers added: 'Rachel Reeves claims Labour will ' end the use of asylum hotels '. 'But if they won't commit to deport all illegal immigrants, where will they go? Coming to a house on your street?' Latest figures show £3.1billion was spent on housing asylum-seekers in hotels in 2023-24, out of a total asylum support bill of £4.7bn. More than 30,000 asylum-seekers are currently housed in about 200 hotels across Britain, and ministers are currently looking at moving them into derelict tower blocks and student digs instead.

Police leaders say they will struggle to fulfil Labour's promise to recruit 13,000 officers
Police leaders say they will struggle to fulfil Labour's promise to recruit 13,000 officers

The Guardian

time2 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Police leaders say they will struggle to fulfil Labour's promise to recruit 13,000 officers

Police forces will struggle to fulfil Keir Starmer's promise to recruit an additional 13,000 officers and the public will 'pay the price', police leaders have warned, after the chancellor outlined a decline in Home Office spending power on Wednesday. The National Police Chiefs' Council said it would be incredibly difficult to deliver the prime minister's election pledge within the lifetime of this parliament, with a projected £1.2bn shortfall in police funding expected to grow. The Police Federation said the consequences of the spending review were 'deeply worrying' and predicted cuts across the service. Rachel Reeves outlined plans for an average 2.3% rise in police spending a year, but the Home Office's spending will decline by 2.2% a year. Only two other departments will see a larger fall. Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford, who is head of the finance coordination committee of the NPCC, said the 2.3% increase announced by the government covers last year, leaving a 1.7% increase in funding for this spending review period. 'It will be incredibly difficult for the commitment to deliver the additional 13,000 neighbourhood police officers to be delivered within this funding envelope,' he said. Forces were given £200m as a stand-alone grant this financial year towards the 13,000 recruitment, which will recruit 3,000 officer into neighbourhoods, he said. 'Any further progress that we make towards the 13,000 without new money would only come through delivering savings elsewhere in our budgets. We have had years of making savings from our budgets, and we think that that is remarkably challenging,' Sandford added. Before the election, Labour promised 13,000 extra police officers, PCSOs and special constables, which would bring the total police workforce to a level above its 2010 peak. Starmer repeated the pledge as a 'milestone' in December. Police sources told the Guardian there would be cuts in resources given to areas which have not been ringfenced by previous government pledges. Budgets to fight fraud, which makes up more than 40% of all crime affecting people over 16 in England and Wales, are vulnerable to cuts. One source said: 'This government has placed emphasis, quite rightly, on community policing, violence against women and girls, knife crime, county lines and violent crimes. You have to look at that and think that fraud, which is a growth area for criminals, is going to face cuts.' It will be decided in December how money will be shared between the 43 forces in England and Wales. The pay settlement to be given to officers is also not yet known. Acting national chair of the Police Federation, Tiff Lynch, accused Reeves of failing to listen to police officers or the home secretary in the lead up to the review. 'It is beyond insulting for cabinet ministers to call on police to 'do their bit' when officers are overworked, underpaid, and under threat like never before,' she said. 'The signs are deeply worrying; the consequences will be even more so. And those consequences sit squarely on the shoulders of the chancellor and the prime minister.' Police 'core spending power' will increase by 1.7% a year over the course of this parliament, according to the spending review. The Liberal Democrats claimed that the government was relying on a 'hidden council tax bombshell' because chief constables will be forced to seek rises in the PCC council tax precept to ensure that forces can maintain a service. Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrat's home affairs spokesperson, said: 'The government is relying on a hidden council tax bombshell to fund their half-hearted rise in police funding as they pass the buck to local families.' Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said: 'I remain concerned that this spending review could result in insufficient funding for the Met and fewer police officers. 'After frontline policing was neglected for years under the Conservatives, local communities deserve better than this sleight of hand.'

Lord Hermer handed biggest increase in spending review
Lord Hermer handed biggest increase in spending review

Telegraph

time3 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Lord Hermer handed biggest increase in spending review

Lord Hermer has emerged as one of the big winners from Rachel Reeves's spending review. The budget for the Government's law officers will soar by 5.3 per cent between 2025-26 and 2028-29, at a time when many of his colleagues are facing real-terms cuts. It comes despite the Home Office facing a cut of 1.4 per cent over the same period, putting plans to increase the number of police on the streets at risk. The Attorney General has attracted huge controversy since he was unexpectedly appointed to the post after Labour's election victory last July. During his time as a barrister, he defended Abid Naseer, the Islamist terrorist who plotted an attack on a Manchester shopping centre, and Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein leader. The peer was recently forced to apologise after seeming to compare those who want to leave the European Convention on Human Rights with Nazis. He has also angered Cabinet colleagues by taking a long time to sign off legislation to show it complies with human rights and other laws. As Attorney General for England and Wales, Lord Hermer advises the Government on the way its legislation is framed. He also has other powers, such as being able to increase the length of a prison sentence he believes is 'unduly lenient'. The Telegraph reported earlier this week that Lord Hermer declined to review at least three sentences given to a rapist, a paedophile and a terrorist sympathiser. All three had received shorter sentences than Lucy Connolly, who had been jailed for 31 months for a tweet about last year's Southport attacks. But the peer was happy to sign off on her prosecution, even though he had the constitutional power to prevent it. He did not have any say over her sentence. Although Lord Hermer's budget has increased, the actual amount given to the law officers' department is much smaller than some of the larger departments. It is believed some of the rise is down to the fact that the Government has decided to bring more legal work in house rather than outsourcing it to external consultants. Although the number of lawyers will increase, the department is expected to save money on consultants in the long term.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store