A record 6,085 children were referred to the Government's anti-terror Prevent scheme in 2025, police data shows, after more than 6,000 referrals last year linked to online fascination with school massacres and violence.

The figures, obtained via freedom of information requests by Conservative MPs, reveal referrals have tripled since 2020, rising from 2,129 that year to 4,116 in 2023 and soaring to 6,085 in 2025.

In dozens of cases, the primary influence was described as "fascination with extreme violence", while others cited "fascination with mass casualty attacks", according to the National Police Chiefs' Council data.

A sharp increase was noted for referrals categorised as "fascination with school massacre", which jumped to 15 from just one case in 2023.

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana had been referred to Prevent three times between 2019 and 2021 for his interest in terrorist attacks and school shootings before his case was closed for lack of a clear extremist ideology.

He later murdered three children - Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Bebe King, six - at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July 2024.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp urged the Government to stop "burying its head in the sand" as he warned of an "alarming crisis" of children being drawn into extremism and violence.

Some 58 referrals cited "gaming" as the main influence, and global conflicts such as those in the Middle East and Russia's war on Ukraine were also noted as radicalising factors.

A report earlier this year found two-thirds of children referred to Prevent were sent back to schools, and Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said seven in ten referrals had "no clear ideology".

She added that some youths may obsess over weapons, idolise attackers, share beheading videos, extreme pornography, or encourage self-harm.

Ali Harbi Ali, who stabbed Sir David Amess, was also flagged to Prevent by teachers but slipped through after "problematic" assessments.

Lord Anderson's watchdog review criticised the scheme for failing to engage at-risk youths and called for action on twisted violence obsessions even without ideology.

A government spokesman said the programme moves more than 6,000 people away from violent ideologies since 2015 and stressed that social-media platforms must remove illegal content or face penalties up to £18 million.