Would-be Southport copycat attacker planned to target Cardiff Oasis gig and dance school

A would-be Southport copycat killer wanted to attack a dance school and an Oasis reunion concert in Cardiff, a court has heard

McKenzie Morgan, 18, from Cwmbran in South Wales, told friends of plans to target the concert in Cardiff on July 4 last year, and had a note targeting a dance school near his home.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for a minimum of 52 years last January for murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town in July 2024, when he was aged 17.

Morgan, who was also aged 17 at the time of the offences, had pleaded guilty to possessing a document useful for terrorism.

On Friday, he appeared at the Old Bailey to be sentenced by Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC.

Opening the facts, prosecutor Corinne Bramwell told how Morgan had praised the Southport attacker in Snapchat messages between April 7 and June 2.

He shared images of Rudakubana, saying that he wanted to engage in a similar terrorist-style attack and was trying to make the deadly poison ricin, the court was told.

One of the people on Snapchat reported Morgan to police and he was also referred to children’s mental health services due to his mother’s concerns.

He went on to tell a psychiatric nurse on June 2 that he wanted to hurt others and planned to commit a Rudakubana-style terrorist attack, Ms Bramwell said.

Research

Morgan said he had been researching bombs and poison and how to stab and kill people, having enjoyed watching terrorist attacks.

The nurse disclosed the conversation to police and recommended an autism assessment.

Later the same day, police arrested Morgan at his home in Cwmbran.

Officers seized his electronic devices and mobile phones, on which a terrorist manual was found.

Further examination revealed that last April, Morgan had sent a message asking “how to burn people’s faces”.

He had stated: “In my head I now have the motivation to go ahead with some sort of attack.”

He also sent a picture of a 15cm kitchen knife advertised on Amazon to another Snapchat user with the question: “Would this work?”

Ms Bramwell said records showed he had gone on to attempt to buy the knife.

Last April 26, he searched online for two local playgrounds and a youth dance academy.

Two days later, he created a note on his mobile telephone on “places to attack” which included a screenshot of the dance academy identified on a map.

Ricin

On Snapchat messaging, he revealed a further plan to bomb the Oasis music concert on 4 July 2025 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff and that he had tried to make ricin.

In May, he made screenshots of news articles about police investigating an alleged attack on a prison officer by the Southport killer.

On the day of his arrest, Morgan researched knives and searched the school where he had attended until June 2024.

In a police interview, Morgan admitted having read the terror manual and said he had sent Snapchat messages because he was “bored”.

He denied trying to make ricin or intending to attack his school, the dance academy or the Oasis concert and he only meant “to shock”.

He told police that he had been unhappy and been bullied at school, the court was told.

Ms Bramwell told the court that Morgan was a risk to himself and also a high risk to others.

Previously, Morgan could not be identified because of his age, but the restriction was lifted on his 18th birthday.

Mitigating, Michael Stradling pointed out that Morgan has no history of violence and asserted the greater risk was of self harm or the defendant suffering harm at the hands of others.

The barrister said: “I asked him what he wants to say and what I would describe as a true heartfelt manner he said that he wanted you to know that he is very sorry.”