Top barrister reveals struggle in avoiding ‘fight’ with Keir Starmer over Axel Rudakubana case: ‘I had to stop myself’
WATCH NOW: Barrister erupts over Keir Starmer’s remarks on Axel Rudakubana
GB News
Barrister Steven Barrett has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over his handling of information about the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.
Barrett told GB News that the British public "can't trust a word" the Prime Minister says following the announcement of an inquiry into the attack in July 2024 and the events that followed.
"We have a Prime Minister who is now saying, 'oh, look, I may have lied to you, but I did it for your own good, I did it for a good reason. It's complete tosh'," Barrett said.
The barrister criticised the "patronising" way Starmer addressed public concerns about withheld information.
Steven Barrett has hit out at the Prime Minister following the announcement of an inquiry into the Southport attack
PA / CPS / GB News
At a Downing Street press conference this morning, Starmer defended his position on withholding information about the Southport killer.
The Prime Minister insisted he was following "the law of the land" to prevent the case against Rudakubana from collapsing.
"You know and I know that it would not have been right to disclose those details," Starmer told reporters. "The only losers if the details had been disclosed would be the victims and the families because it ran the risk the trial would collapse."
Discussing the incident, Barrett revealed he had personally struggled with the decision to withhold information about the case.
The Prime Minister has defended his actions after he was blasted with accusations of a 'cover-up'
PA"I knew he was wrong, and I could have picked a public fight over this by sending a tweet," he told GB News.
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The barrister described becoming emotionally affected after seeing pictures of what happened to the victims.
"I've seen pictures of what happened to those girls, and this is all going to come out and people are going to be very rightly upset. Anybody who cares about children is going to be crying, frankly, because it's horrific," he said.
Barrett explained he had restrained himself from speaking out to avoid any risk of derailing the trial.
"Day after day after day and every day I've had to stop myself picking this fight," he said, noting he had been waiting for January 20th when the guilty plea was entered.
Barrett told GB News that 'no action was taken' despite Rudakubana being referred to Prevent 'three times'
GB News
Barrett emphasised there was a crucial legal distinction between trials and inquiries regarding information disclosure, and pointed to the fact that Rudakubana had been referred to the Prevent programme three times without action being taken.
He explained: "I think the information is going to come out because I've spoken to victims and survivors and they want to talk. They're currently being traumatised. The police are going around telling them, no, you can't talk.
"We live in a broken society where only the decent laws only apply to decent people. That boy was referred to Prevent three times, and they didn't do anything. But the good people who abide by laws and who want to follow them are being silenced, and they must speak."
The court has indicated that a life sentence is "inevitable" when Rudakubana is sentenced on Thursday.
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