Southport attack could and should have been stopped, inquiry says

The Southport attack could and should have been stopped if the killer’s parents and state agencies had acted sooner, the inquiry into the atrocity has concluded.

Its chair, Sir Adrian Fulford, has made 67 recommendations in a 700-page report into the attack by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana in July 2024.

The report, following a nine-week public inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall last year, focuses criticism on a number of state agencies along with the parents of the killer.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered when Rudakubana entered the Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in The Hart Space, Southport, armed with a knife.

The killer, then 17, also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas, and businessman John Hayes.

Sir Adrian said his two “principal conclusions” were that Rudakubana’s parents were at fault in not reporting his escalating behaviour and state agencies including those in health, education and policing, failed to manage the risk the teenager clearly represented.

Had they done so, Sir Adrian said it was “highly likely” the attack would not have occurred.

“History simply would have taken a different course,” he said.

“As I have already indicated but I repeat, this terrible event could have been and should have been prevented.”

“While the sole immediate cause of death was unlawful killing by the perpetrator, the attack that led to the deaths was preventable.”

Sir Adrian said earlier intervention by schools, health workers or police would have revealed Rudakubana’s fascination with violence sooner and it would have been better understood.

He continued: “This in turn would have revealed earlier criminal acts committed or in preparation by the perpetrator leading to significant criminal justice and counter-terrorism interventions.”

‘Considerable blame’

The killer’s father, Alphonse, and mother Laetitia Muzayire, had failed to stand up to their son or set boundaries and though Sir Adrian recognised they had struggled to deal with him, they also bore “considerable blame”.

He added: “However, they had knowledge that he had purchased some weapons, and they knew he had tried to leave the house to carry out some form of attack at his old school just one week prior to the fatal attack, when there was a real risk that he was armed with a weapon.

“They also knew of empty knife packaging once the perpetrator left the family home on the day of the fatal attack.”

Earlier, the inquiry chairman said the “extreme and very particular depravity” of the killings was unprecedented in the UK.

Rudakubana was not suffering from mental illness but instead, from his early teens, he had been fixated with extreme violence, fed by spending the majority of his time online, unsupervised by his parents, viewing disturbing content.

“Over a long period of time, [Rudakubana] had become an aggressive, near-total recluse, who bullied and threatened his family and unashamedly lied to officials,” Sir Adrian said.

“One of the most striking conclusions from this inquiry’s extensive investigation is the sheer number of missed opportunities over many years to intervene meaningfully, which directly contributed to the failure to avert this disaster.

“Numerous systems that should have provided oversight, assessment and protection were ineffective or inadequately used.

“Some failed outright. The consequences were catastrophic.”

A second phase of the inquiry will be informed by the findings of phase one and is expected to focus on the risk posed by young people with a fixation, or obsession with, acts of extreme violence.