Pictures have been released of the armoury of weapons teenage killer Axel Rudakubana stored in his bedroom.
When police raided his home after he carried out the attack in Southport on July 29, they found knives, archery arrows and a mystery substance later confirmed to be ricin, a biological toxin 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide.
The poison was found in a sealed food container under his bed at Old School Close, Banks, where officers also found a pair of safety goggles, a lab beaker and a pestle and mortar.
A bag which had contained castor seeds, used to make the substance, was also found – having been bought in 2022.
The form the poison was found in was deemed to be “low to very low risk”.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday: “Due to the risk to public health, the search was halted until specialist protective equipment was available.”
When it was taken to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, Dr Pearce, an expert in chemical and biological warfare agents, concluded the container did indeed contain “actively toxic ricin pulp” which had been produced using equipment found in the defendant’s bedroom.
Evidence from Amazon suggests the defendant purchased the equipment in early 2022, Ms Heer said.
The court heard exposure to ricin – a naturally-occurring toxin – could result in death as a result of multi-organ failure and/or acute respiratory distress.
“There is no antidote (for ricin poisoning) and only a very small amount of it may be deadly,” Ms Heer said.
Dr Pearce concluded that equipment in Rudakubana’s bedroom “had been used to make a crude preparation of ricin in sufficient quantities to be lethal”, Ms Heer said.
“There is no evidence that the ricin produced was ever used either during this attack or at any other time,” she added.
Also at the property was a machete, 12 archery arrows and a knife identical to the one used in the attack at The Hart Space dance studio in Southport.
The PA news agency found several listings for what appeared to be the same knife available online, including on Amazon.
Images and documents relating to violence, war and genocide were found on his devices.
The internet browsing history on a laptop in his home was deleted shortly before Rudakubana left the house, investigations are understood to have found.
Among the items found on two tablet computers belonging to the 18-year-old were documents including A Concise History Of Nazi Germany and The Myth Of The Remote Controlled Car Bomb, the PA news agency understands.
Ms Heer said it appeared the defendant had been sleeping in the living room, where a second kitchen knife was found which was identical to the one the defendant took to The Hart Space.
The prosecutor said Rudakubana bought this from Amazon on the same occasion.
A quantity of bottles with matches attached to the necks were also found in the living room.