Latest news with #DaxMallaburn
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Police allowed convicted Neo-Nazi 'who groomed and radicalised British girl before she was found dead' to leave the UK
A convicted American neo-Nazi was permitted to leave the UK by police despite being known for 'grooming and radicalising' Britain's youngest ever girl to be charged with terror offences. Dax Mallaburn was questioned by counter-terrorism officers at Heathrow Airport having been suspected of encouraging 16-year-old Rhianan Rudd to look at violent material online. Despite such suspicions, the decision was still taken to allow Mallaburn to leave the UK without any further action, the Daily Telegraph has reported. He boarded a flight to the US, where he then travelled on to Mexico, in October 2020. Having been assessed as a 'medium risk of radicalisation' by experts, Rudd was nonetheless later charged by the CPS with six counts of terrorism in April 2021, the youngest individual in British history to ever receive such charges. However, in December 2022, the charges against the vulnerable and autistic schoolgirl were dropped with the Home Office ruling that she had been a victim of grooming. Rudd downloaded guides on how to make a pipe bomb, homemade weapons and guerilla warfare and also scratched a swastika into her forehead. Just five months later, on May 19 2022, she was found dead at a children's home by her carer in Nottinghamshire. During an inquest into the circumstances surrounding Rudd's death, Chesterfield Coroners Court heard that she had began to show signs of far-Right radicalisation after Mallaburn moved into the family home in Bolsover, Derbyshire, with her mother, Emily Carter, in 2017. Mallaburn, who met Ms Carter through an inmate pen-pal scheme, had previously been found by a US Supreme Court ruling to be a member of a neo-Nazi group and had also served prison time in the US for possession of weapons. In 2019, Rudd, then aged 14, complained to Derbyshire County Council social workers, who themselves had suspicions that she was being groomed, that Mallaburn had touched her sexually. However, when police later visited Rudd at her home address, she retracted the allegations. Just days before she took her own life, the teen told a counter-terrorism official that Mallaburn, who she described as a 'literal Nazi' was explaining to her what 'really happened' during the Second World War. Mallaburn also introduced the impressionable teenager to fellow US white supremacist Chris Cook, who provided her with clear instructions on how to make homemade bombs and weapons. In September 2020, Ms Carter reported her concerns about her daughter to anti-radicalisation programme Prevent. The inquest heard that she had been unaware of Mallaburn's influence on her young teenager. In a letter addressed to counter-terrorism police, Ms Carter said that Rudd had developed an 'unhealthy outlook on fascism' and harboured a 'massive dislike for certain races and creeds.' When the youngster was visited by local police at her school, she confirmed her interest in the extreme right and told police she had met an American 'neo-Nazi' over the online gaming platform, Discord. Classmates told school leaders that Rudd had revealed her intention to 'kill someone in school or blow up a Jewish place of worship', counsel to the inquest Edward Pleeth said. 'She said she doesn't care who she kills and nothing matters any more,' a school log shown at the hearing stated. Drawings found in her school bag included sketches of a man giving a Nazi salute. A child protection team from Derbyshire County Council later found that both Mallaburn and Cook had encouraged the young teen to 'look at violent material'. 'Suspicions of radicalisation' related to Rudd were then passed on by counter-terrorism police by MI5. On October 21 2020, just two weeks after Mallaburn had been allowed to board his flight from Heathrow, Rhianan was arrested by East Midlands counter-terror police. Bailed as a terror suspect, she was removed from school and placed in a children's home. While the charges were later dropped, Rudd's mother believed that the pressure of the investigation ultimately took its toll on her young daughter who she said should have been treated 'as a victim rather than a terrorist'. A close friend of the teen's family, Ann, had begun an affair with Mallaburn by the time Rhianan had been arrested. Having later relocated to Mexico to be with him, she told the Daily Telegraph that while he had been 'interviewed by the FBI about Rhianan and her online relationship with a man in Ohio', she firmly believed that he had 'never been charged with any race crime'. Whitehall sources told the publication that the Home Office had put 'robust safeguards in place to ensure that those who intend to sow hatred and division can be refused entry to our country'. Adding that it is a 'police decision' to decide whether an individual is unable to leave the country, they added: 'They make the call on whether it is possible and appropriate to confiscate an individual's passport to prevent their departure'. East Midlands counter-terror police refused to comment ahead of the coroner's findings.
Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Telegraph
Police let neo-Nazi who radicalised teenager leave the country
British police allowed a convicted American neo-Nazi to leave the UK after grooming and radicalising the youngest girl in Britain charged with terror offences. Dax Mallaburn, who was known to police and social services for having encouraged Rhianan Rudd to look at violent material, was stopped and questioned by counter-terrorism officers at Heathrow. Despite already being suspected of radicalising and engaging in 'inappropriate behaviour' with the teenager he was allowed to board a flight to the US, from where he travelled on to Mexico. Mallaburn left Britain in October 2020, shortly before police arrested the teenager and later charged her with downloading a bomb-making manual online. The case was delayed before the charges were eventually dropped following an intervention by the Home Office, which concluded she had been a victim of trafficking who had been groomed and sexually exploited. Five months after the charges against her were dropped, Rhianan was found dead by her carer at Bluebell House, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, on 19 May 2022, aged 16. The revelations about Mallaburn's movements come as a coroner prepares to hand down her findings into the teenager's death on Monday, following a three-week inquest. Chief coroner Judge Alexia Durran's findings are likely to examine the role of counter-terror police, MI5 and social services in the events that led to Rhianan's death. The decision to allow Mallaburn to leave the UK without any further action being taken over his role in radicalising Rhianan has raised questions about possible failings by the authorities. Chesterfield Coroners Court heard that Rhianan began to show disturbing signs of far-Right radicalisation after being groomed by Mallaburn when he moved into the family home with her mother, Emily Carter, in 2017. The inquest heard that Mallaburn, who had multiple tattoos of swastikas, had served time in a US prison for possession of weapons and met Ms Carter through a pen-pal scheme for inmates. He was also found by a US Supreme Court ruling to be a member of the neo-Nazi group the Arizona Aryan Brotherhood. Derbyshire County Council social workers, who were already involved with Rhianan's care, became concerned that she was being groomed by Mallaburn after he moved into her home in Bolsover. Rhianan complained to them in 2019 that the American had touched her sexually. She had just turned 14. But when police visited the girl at her home she retracted the allegations. The inquest heard that behind closed doors, Mallaburn was teaching the troubled teenager his version of the Second World War. In the days before she took her own life, Rhianan would tell a counter-terrorism official that Mallaburn had explained to her 'what really happened', describing her mother's partner as a 'literal Nazi'. The inquest was told that Mallaburn's influence on Rhianan was 'not known' to her mother. Counter-terrorism police began investigating Rhianan in September 2020 after Ms Carter reported her concerns to Prevent, the anti-radicalisation programme, 'over her concerns about Rhianan's obsession with far-Right material, explaining how she went from an interest in the two world wars to admiring Hitler'. Carter wrote in a letter to counter-terrorism police: 'I need help with my 15-year-old daughter. She has a very unhealthy outlook on fascism – she also has massive dislikes for certain races and creeds.' The inquest was told that during his time living with Ms Carter and Rhianan, Mallaburn had put the teenager in contact with another US white supremacist, named Chris Cook, who supplied her with instructions for making homemade bombs and weapons. A child protection team from Derbyshire County Council found that both Mallaburn and Cook 'had encouraged Rhianan to look at violent material'. Counter-terrorism police passed their 'suspicion of radicalisation' of Rhianan by Mallaburn on to MI5. When the American neo-Nazi left Chesterfield and headed to Heathrow Airport on 7 October 2020 he was stopped by counter-terror police and interviewed before being allowed to board his flight. Rhianan was arrested by East Midlands counter-terror police two weeks later, on 21 October. A family friend called Ann, who had been helping Ms Carter look after Rhianan, had by now already begun an affair with Mallaburn and later travelled to Mexico to be with him. Ann, who met Rhianan through the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, went on to take the former convict's name when she joined him in the resort of Cancun. She acknowledged Mallaburn's far-Right links, but insisted he was no longer involved, telling The Telegraph: 'Dax has never been charged with any race crime. He was interviewed by the FBI about Rhianan and her online relationship with a man in Ohio. 'Dax returned to the USA on October 7 2020, however not before being interviewed at Heathrow by anti-terror and by Homeland Security in the USA about, not Rhianan, but her online 'boyfriend' in Ohio.' Whitehall sources said the Home Office had ' robust safeguards in place to ensure that those who intend to sow hatred and division can be refused entry to our country – and make no apology for this. The decision to prevent someone leaving the country is a police decision. They make the call on whether it is possible and appropriate to confiscate an individual's passport to prevent their departure.' The sources added: 'Our first duty is to keep the country safe and we have long been clear we will use all the powers at our disposal to do so.'
