Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Axel Rudakubana has assaulted any (a) staff and (b) patients at Broadmoor Hospital; how long he is expected to be held there; and for what reason he was moved there from HMP Belmarsh.

We do not comment on the management of prisoners transferred into secure hospitals from custody, including on allegations about their actions. Such matters fall to the detaining hospital to address either through their own security procedures or where appropriate with their local police force.

Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (the 1983 Act) provides for the transfer of prisoners from custody to secure psychiatric hospitals to receive treatment under the 1983 Act. Such transfers require clear clinical evidence provided by at least two registered medical practitioners, ordinarily consultant-level psychiatrists, who are recognised by the Secretary of State as having special experience in the diagnosis or treatment of mental disorders.

When deciding to transfer a prisoner to hospital, the Secretary of State will closely scrutinise the medical evidence to assess whether the criteria for a transfer under section 47 of the 1983 Act are met.

At the point a prisoner, who has been transferred to hospital, no longer meets the criteria for detention under the 1983 Act, they will return to prison to continue serving their custodial sentence.

A transfer under section 47 of the 1983 Act has no effect on the sentence a prisoner will serve. In Axel Rudakubana’s case, only the Parole Board can direct his release, and the Board will not consider that until the expiry of his 52-year tariff in 2076.