The BBC has removed a six-year-old Doctor Who charity advert from all its platforms, following the discovery that it starred the teenager who has been named as the suspect in this week’s Southport stabbings.
Axel Rudakubana, now aged 17, has been charged with three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder following the attack in northern England on Monday July 29, in which three young girls died, and several were left critically injured in a multiple stabbing that occurred in a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
The Times newspaper reports that the 2018 video sees Rudakubana, then aged 11, emerge from the famous Tardis in a brown trench coat and tie, similar to clothes worn by the show’s former star David Tennant.
The newspaper reports that Rudakubana was contracted through a casting agency and has never had a relationship directly with the BBC. It quotes a Children in Need spokesman saying: “Our deepest sympathies go out to everyone impacted by this shocking case and we have removed the video from all of our platforms out of respect to them.”
Taylor Swift posted her reaction to the incident. The superstar, who has been touring in the UK recently, posted on Instagram that “the horror of yesterday’s attack is washing over me continuously and I’m just completely in shock.”
As well as the three young girls who were killed, two adults were seriously injured and eight other children suffered stab wounds in the attack. Five remain in a critical condition.