A 17-year-old boy accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport can be named as Axel Rudakubana. Rudakubana is accused of murdering Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, with a kitchen knife on Monday after entering the class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside. Eight other children sustained knife wounds – with five of them left in a critical condition – while two adults were also critically hurt. Lifting the anonymity order at Liverpool crown court, Judge Menary KC said the “idiotic rioting” in parts of the UK after the attack was one reason why it was in the public interest for his name to be released. Remanding Rudakubana in youth detention, the judge said keeping the defendant’s anonymity in place ran the risk of “allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum”. The defendant is due to turn 18 on Wednesday, which the judge said could provide an “additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder”. Describing the allegations against Rudakubana as “shocking” and that they “could hardly be more serious”, he said there was a “genuine and proper public interest in the identity of the defendant” and that allowing the press to name him would be “assisting to dispel misinformation that exists, especially online”. The decision came after incorrect identities and false claims, including that a Muslim immigrant had been arrested for murder, were shared online after the attack, and after clashes between the police and far-right rioters. In Southport on Tuesday night, police intervened when activists targeted a mosque, with five arrests made as a result of the disorder, during which missiles were thrown and police sustained minor injuries. Any anonymity that was previously in place would have automatically expired when the defendant turned 18 next week, allowing him to be named in news reports. Judges have powers to put in place anonymity orders in youth cases, to protect the safety of defendants, under section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. However, Menary said he was satisfied of the safety of Rudakubana in youth detention. Both the defence and prosecution barristers argued that Rudakubana’s anonymity should be kept until next week to give the police more time to put in place measures to keep safe his parents and 20-year-old older brother. However, Menary said he was aware the family had already been moved for their safety. The names of the eight injured children, two of whom were released from Alder Hey children’s hospital on Thursday morning, are still protected by an automatic reporting restriction and therefore cannot be published. Throughout the 55-minute hearing, Rudakubana covered his face, with his sweatshirt pulled up to his hairline. He refused to speak, including to confirm his name, and at times rocked back and forth and side to side. He will next appear at Liverpool crown court, on 25 October, and a provisional trial date, lasting six weeks, was scheduled for 20 January. Menary told the defendant, who did not acknowledge the judge and continued to keep his head down: “You are remanded to youth detention accommodation until these proceedings have been completed. That position might change when you achieve your [age of] majority in a short while.”