The mum of a girl who witnessed the Southport stabbing questioned “could I have stopped the hell that person was inflicting?”
The scene of the Southport stabbings on July 29, 2024(Image: Getty Images)
The mum of a girl who witnessed the Southport mass stabbing said a decision to hang up the washing will haunt her for the rest of her life. The mum, supported by her partner, read her witness statement to Liverpool Town Hall during the first day of the resumed Southport Inquiry today, Monday.
Three girls – Bebe King, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe – were murdered when teenager Axel Rudakubana took a knife into a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on July 29 last year. Ten others suffered injuries, while 16 others also survived but continue to live with the emotional scars of the attack.
The mum, who cannot be named to ensure her daughter’s anonymity is protected, said she hopes the inquiry “may be the only chance to demand real answers, to expose every failing and to force meaningful and lasting change”.
Reading her statement to the inquiry, the mum said: “On the day of the attack, I made a decision that will haunt me for the rest of my life…I chose to hang out the washing first. It was such a small, ordinary act but one that I have regretted every day since.
“Had I instead headed over earlier, could I have done something? Could I have helped? Could I have stopped the hell that person was inflicting?” She told the inquiry that when she arrived at Hart Space in Southport, she was confronted “by a scene that looked like something from a film set”.
The mum said she was faced with the “terrifying possibility” that her daughter was still inside the building. She said she ran up the stairs and saw “cowardly” Rudakubana “lying face down on the floor being arrested”.
After not finding her daughter, the mum said: “I truly believed my daughter was dead. I called my husband and told him that if she was gone, I couldn’t carry on. I would have to go with her. I couldn’t let her go alone. I vaguely remember someone telling me to go and check the house. I ran. Incredibly, I found her there. Physically she was unharmed, but the trauma, the damage was already done.”
The mum told the inquiry, chaired by former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Adrian Fulford, that her daughter has developed a fear of noise and stairs and has to wear ear defenders in public. Her daughter has only told her counsellor what happened as the one-year anniversary approached.
The mum’s statement continued: “To hear what she said broke my heart but made me immensely proud of her. She knew she had to run and she did. She saved herself. She looked out for other children and they looked out for her. The strength and bravery she showed, along with all of the girls there that day should be remembered and acknowledged.
“Our daughter is strong and surrounded by love. We are incredibly lucky to be surrounded by wonderful family, friends and teachers who have stood beside us throughout the past year.”
Chair Sir Adrian Fulford sitting inside the hearing room at Liverpool Town Hall(Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
The girl’s mum, who said their family had moved out of Southport because of the trauma of the experience, added: “I will never stop regretting my decision to leave the house later that day. The guilt I carry, and the horror of what I saw, is difficult to live with. I don’t know how to begin to make myself better.”
The Southport Inquiry will examine an overall timeline of the perpetrator’s history and interactions with various public bodies including criminal justice, education, social care, and healthcare, as well as decision-making and information-sharing by local services and agencies.
Major questions were asked of the authorities and public services after Rudakubana admitted the series of offences. The ECHO revealed how the teenager had previously been referred to the Prevent programme – which aims to stop individuals becoming terrorists – on three separate occasions before he committed the murders.
The mum urged the inquiry to “tell us how we ever got to this point”. She added: “Why was no action taken? What change is coming, not in theory but in practice? How many more lives will be destroyed before the system takes responsibility?”
She finished: “To the parents of Elsie, Bebe and Alice, there is not an hour that goes by where I don’t think of all of you. I am in awe of the wonderful communities you are creating in memory of your beautiful girls. Though I knew none of them personally, I want you to know they had an impact on this world; and they will continue to do so.”