Axel Rudakubana pleads guilty to murder of three girls in Southport

Jonny HumphriesReporting from court

For the first few moments after the courtroom was assembled today, it seemed as if we would hear more of the same from Rudakubana - nothing.

When the court clerk asked him to confirm his name, he did not respond as he hadn’t done at several pre-trial hearings.

Trial judge Justice Goose asked the dock officers either side of the teenager if they could hear, which they confirmed.

The clerk then asked a second time for Rudakubana to confirm his identity.

When he again failed to respond, his barrister, Stan Reisz KC, rose to his feet and asked if he could approach the dock.

A few moments later, Reisz told the court that there was no argument over his client’s identity.

Those of us observing proceedings, both in the courtroom and over a video-link, were fully expecting the practical process of getting a jury together to begin.

But Reisz spoke again and asked for the indictment - the list of charges he faced - to be read again.

In court that usually means one thing - the defendant is changing his pleas.

Indeed, this time we heard from Rudakubana, as he repeated one word 16 times - guilty.