Michael Stewart, the head of the Prevent programme, is leaving his role following failures that came to light after the horrifying Southport attack last year, The Times has reported.

A “Prevent learning review” launched following the frenzied attack by Axel Rudakubana found counterterrorism police missed several chances to stop the teenager due to spelling mistakes. It also found Prevent “prematurely” dismissed the threat posed by the murderer on each of the three separate occasions he was flagged to the programme.

The report into the failings itself also contained key inaccuracies, the paper has revealed. 

Stewart was responsible for the Internal Home Office review of extremism, concluding that two-tier policing claims were an extreme-right wing narrative. The controversial document said right-wing extremists “frequently exploit” the grooming gangs scandal to promote an anti-Muslim agenda. 

The report included other recommendations including increasing the police’s recording of non-crime hate incidents. The report was completed in November, which was then leaked to the think tank Policy Exchange in January. 

The document recommended major changes to how extremism is dealt with in the UK, proposing a widening of the definition. Following the publication of the report, Dan Jarvis, the security minister, issued a statement rejecting the report’s recommendations.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper commissioned the report last year following the Southport killings where the 18-year-old murdered three young girls.

Ms Cooper is now preparing to set out a new plan for tackling extremism next year.

Rudakubana was charged with the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; who died following the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at The Hart Space shortly before midday on July 29.

He has also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of eight other children and to the attempted murder of Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes. As well as pleading guilty to having a kitchen knife in a public place, he also admitted to the production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, namely a PDF file titled Military Studies in the Jihad against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual.

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