The mystery terrorist who plotted to use lethal poison 20 years before the Southport killer

What is ricin?

Axel Rudakubana will go down in history for his horrific slaughter of three children at a dance workshop in Southport in July 2024 but what was the mysterious substance - ricin - he was found in possession of by the police?

I covered a trial 20 years ago of wannabe terrorist, Kamel Bourgass, who stabbed a policeman to death during a raid linked to a ricin plot.

In today’s Substack I am going to explain what ricin is, and why it has remained so apparently terrifying, despite accounting for only one death since it was invented in 1888.