LONDON

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Jan. 21 pledged to fight the changing face of “terrorism” after a teenager admitted the murder of three young girls in a stabbing spree that triggered riots last year.

Starmer said the killings, not treated as “terrorism” by the judicial authorities, were “a sign Britain now faces a new threat … acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms” who were accessing material online.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the attack in the northwestern seaside resort of Southport near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, who was born in Wales to Rwandan parents, on Jan. 20 admitted murder before his trial was due to start, prompting the government to announce a public inquiry into the events leading up to the killings.

Rudakubana had been referred three times to the government’s anti-extremism scheme, Prevent, over concerns about his obsession with violence.

The scheme aims to “stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism” or help rehabilitate those already involved in terror, according to the Interior Ministry.

Starmer said in the past the “predominant threat was from highly organized groups with clear political intent, groups like al-Qaeda.”

But the threat had now expanded to include not just those inspired by traditional “terrorist” groups but also individuals “fixated on… extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake,” he said.

“If the law needs to change, to recognize this new and dangerous threat, then we will change it and quickly, and we will also review our entire counter extremist system to make sure we have what we need to defeat it,” he added.