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That\u2019s all from the Southport inquiry live blog.<\/p>\n
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood is due to give at statement in the House of Commons outlining her response to Sir Adrian Fulford\u2019s findings. That is expected some time after 5pm.<\/p>\n
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Share<\/a><\/p>\n Prime minister Keir Starmer described the Southport Inquiry report as \u201charrowing\u201d, as he pledged his \u201ctotal determination to make the changes across the entire state that is so clearly necessary to honour the victims\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking in the Commons before a statement on the Middle East, he said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI want to put on record in this house my total determination to make the changes across the entire state that is so clearly necessary to honour the victims, the injured, and the families of Southport.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s report is harrowing, it is difficult to read, and I cannot begin to imagine the pain upon pain that it will cause the families that it affects, and our thoughts are with them today, and the home Ssecretary will respond to the report in full after this statement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Summary<\/p>\n Axel Rudakubana was able to carry out the Southport atrocity<\/a> because of \u201ccatastrophic\u201d failures by multiple agencies and the \u201cirresponsible and harmful\u201d role of his parents, a damning inquiry has found. Sir Adrian Fulford condemned the \u201cinappropriate merry-go-round\u201d of state bodies passing the buck and their \u201cfrankly depressing\u201d refusal to accept responsibility, saying: \u201cThis culture has to end.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, prime minister Keir Starmer said that the \u201cbrutal, senseless murders of Bebe, Elsie and Alice marked one of the darkest moments in our country\u2019s history\u201d. He said: \u201cThe report today is truly harrowing and profoundly disturbing. It sets out in stark detail the systemic failures over the five years that led to this terrible event, and the repeated missed opportunities that could have prevented it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Southport inquiry has revealed a \u201csystematic failure of the state\u201d, home secretary Shabana Mahmood has said. She said in a statement: \u201cSir Adrian\u2019s report is heartbreaking. It shows a systematic failure of the state to prevent a vile and sickening individual perpetrating this atrocity.\u201d<\/p>\n Publishing his 260-page report at Liverpool town hall, Fulford said Britain\u2019s multi-agency model for troubled young people had \u201ccompletely failed\u201d and that ministers should establish a new dedicated agency or structure to oversee complex offenders such as Axel Rudakubana. He said there was a \u201cfundamental failure\u201d by any organisation to take ownership of the risk Rudakubana posed, including a \u201cdisturbing lack of clarity\u201d about who, if anyone, was the lead agency.<\/p>\n Fulford criticised a repeated tendency of professionals to \u201cexcuse\u201d Rudakubana\u2019s increasingly violent and unpredictable behaviour on the basis of his suspected, and later confirmed, autism diagnosis. \u201cThis was both unacceptable and superficial,\u201d he said. Fulford said he accepted that professionals dealt with Rudakubana in good faith, despite many shortcomings.<\/p>\n Rudakubana was known to the state from October 2019, when the then 13-year-old made several calls to Childline admitting to having murderous thoughts about a bully. He said he had taken a kitchen knife to school on 10 occasions. Two months later, he returned to his high school armed with a hockey stick and attacked another pupil, breaking their wrist. Police later found a knife in his backpack and arrested him on suspicion of assault and carrying a bladed article.<\/p>\n The most striking missed opportunity was in March 2022, when Rudakubana went missing from home and was found with a knife on a bus, telling police he wanted to stab someone. He also admitted to thinking about using poison. Instead of arresting the teenager as they should have done, Fulford said, Rudakubana was returned home by two rookie police officers, who advised his parents to hide their knives.<\/p>\n Fulford also criticised agencies for failing to investigate Rudakubana\u2019s \u201cchilling\u201d internet use, finding that his interest in \u201cdegrading, violent and misogynistic\u201d content fed his obsession with violence and led him to build an arsenal of weapons, including knives, a crossbow, petrol bombs and material to make the deadly poison ricin. The judge said he would consider in the second phase of the inquiry whether there should be a new power to monitor or restrict the internet use of young people who are believed to pose a threat.<\/p>\n The chief constable of Lancashire Constabulary, Sacha Hatchett, said the force accepted there was an opportunity to arrest Rudakubana on March 17 2022, when he was found on a bus with a knife. She said: \u201cWe did not adequately assess the risk he posed to others. I am extremely sorry for this.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, a solicitor at the law firm Fletchers which represented 22 of the injured children at the inquiry, said: \u201cIt is clear there is a need for whole-scale system reform across health and social care, education and policing. \u201cAs Sir Adrian Fulford has said, the findings of this inquiry are disturbing and frankly depressing. These calls for organisational and individual accountability must be heard. They must be acted upon.\u201d<\/p>\n The second phase of the Southport inquiry will look at how well the risk posed by people fixated with extreme violence is managed, the home secretary has said. It comes after the first phase of the public inquiry found Axel Rudakubana had \u201cclearly revealed\u201d he was an extreme danger.<\/p>\n In regards to the next steps, Fulford had recommended the second phase of the inquiry should consider a single agency or structure to be appointed to monitor interventions for children presenting a high risk of serious harm. He said \u201cdegrading, violent and misogynistic material\u201d viewed online by Axel Rudakubana fed his \u201calready unhealthy fascination with violence\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said that the report \u201cmarks a crucial moment in fully understanding what happened and why\u201d.<\/p>\n She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt is heartbreaking that there were so many missed opportunities to intervene. Each one was a moment where different decisions, stronger systems or better coordination could have changed the course of events and prevented this tragedy from unfolding.<\/p>\n That is why it is vital that every organisation or agency involved engages fully with the findings, faces them openly, takes responsibility where failings are identified, and commits to meaningful action, so that future families are never left asking the same questions.<\/p>\n She added that she would oversee how Merseyside Police responded to the findings.<\/p>\n She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe learning and recommendations in Sir Adrian\u2019s report cannot stay on the page. They must be acted on in full and implemented nationally, with clear accountability and sustained oversight across all relevant agencies, to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n As part of the inquiry\u2019s phase two work considering whether more restrictions and monitoring of youngsters\u2019 internet access should be considered, the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), used by the killer to get around age verification to order knives online, will be looked at<\/p>\n Rudakubana had deleted his internet history shortly before leaving to carry out the attack but had then searched social media site X for the Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbing, which led to video footage of Bishop Emmanuel being attacked while livestreaming a sermon in Australia.<\/p>\n At school Rudakubana was known to have searched computers for school shootings, had asked about access to pictures of weapons or severed heads, and he had searched for information about terrorist attacks and global conflicts.<\/p>\n At home, from 2019 until the time of the attack, the killer\u2019s parents had no online parental controls set at their address.<\/p>\n There was \u201cscant regard\u201d and a \u201clack of curiosity\u201d paid to the risks arising from his online behaviour, the report concluded.<\/p>\n And while there are \u201cdifficulties\u201d over what powers are available to oversee and monitor online behaviour by children, Fulford said there would have been interventions available \u2013 such as after Rudakubana\u2019s arrest after going to school to attack another pupil.<\/p>\n As Press Association reports, the inquiry heard evidence from X\u2019s head of global government affairs, Deanna Romina Khananisho, who said it would be \u201ctyrannical overreach\u201d for the site, formerly known as Twitter, to remove the video of the attack on the bishop in Australia.<\/p>\n Rudakubana had a number of accounts on X, which required users to enter a date of birth to verify their age, but the content of his messages on the site would not be disclosed by the company without a legal order.<\/p>\n Fulford said \u201cregrettably\u201d X did not show \u201cthe same ready willingness to co-operate with the inquiry as almost all other organisations \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n The inquiry chair\u2019s recommendations include the Department for Education reviewing its guidance to schools on monitoring and filtering online systems and the use of VPNs or other software to circumvent age-related protections.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Lancashire police chief sorry for failure to arrest Rudakubana in 2022<\/p>\n The chief constable of Lancashire Constabulary, Sacha Hatchett, said the force accepted there was an opportunity to arrest Rudakubana on March 17 2022, when he was found on a bus with a knife.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWe did not adequately assess the risk he posed to others. I am extremely sorry for this.\u201d<\/p>\n After his arrest on the bus, he told police he wanted to stab someone. He also admitted to thinking about using poison.<\/p>\n Instead of arresting the teenager as they should have done, the report said, Rudakubana was returned home by two rookie police officers, who advised his parents to hide their knives.<\/p>\n Had Rudakubana been arrested, his home would probably have been searched, leading to the discovery of ricin seeds he had bought and terrorist material on his computer, the report found.<\/p>\n \u201cI fully accept all the recommendations made for Lancashire Constabulary these include, but are not limited to, record keeping and risk assessment, the better sharing of information between partner agencies, improvements in training, and improvements in the availability of effective technology for frontline officers,\u201d Hatchett said on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cWhilst some recommendations sit with Lancashire Constabulary, there are more systemic issues for policing nationally to consider, along with partner agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In regards to the next steps, Fulford had recommended the second phase of the inquiry should consider a single agency or structure to be appointed to monitor interventions for children presenting a high risk of serious harm.<\/p>\n He said \u201cdegrading, violent and misogynistic material\u201d viewed online by Axel Rudakubana fed his \u201calready unhealthy fascination with violence\u201d.<\/p>\n Downloads including an Al-Qaeda training manual, a history of Nazi Germany and documents on wars in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Somalia and South Sudan, were discovered on tablets belonging to Rudakubana.<\/p>\n The inquiry chairman said the lack of exploration of the killer\u2019s \u201conline life\u201d was a \u201csignificant failure\u201d which prevented agencies from identifying and addressing his risk.<\/p>\n He recommended that the second phase of the inquiry should consider abilities to restrict or monitor access to the internet of children if they pose a risk to others.<\/p>\n As the home secretary has just set out, the next phase will look at the role of multi-agency management and influence of the internet on violent attacks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Risks posed by people fixated with extreme violence to be examined in second phase of inquiry<\/p>\n The second phase of the Southport inquiry will look at how well the risk posed by people fixated with extreme violence is managed, the home secretary has said.<\/p>\n It comes after the first phase of the public inquiry found Axel Rudakubana had \u201cclearly revealed\u201d he was an extreme danger.<\/p>\n In a written statement to MPs, Shabana Mahmood said: \u201cI have asked the chair in Phase 2, to examine the adequacy of arrangements for identifying and managing the risk posed by individuals who are fixated with extreme violence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe inquiry will consider the role of multi-agency management, the interventions needed to reduce risk to the public, the effectiveness of laws around knives and weapons, and the extent to which the internet and social media are influencing and enabling people to carry out violent attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n This next phase of the inquiry will begin immediately and is expected to report in Spring 2027.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The chief constable of Merseyside police, Rob Carden, has welcomed the findings of the inquiry report.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe force accepts learning set out in the report in relation to the initial response on the day of the attack and will be considering the recommendations in the coming days. Importantly, the report does stress that the response as a whole was well managed\u2026<\/p>\n There was criticism of the police, among other agencies, over missed opportunities to stop the attack and Carden acknowledged a recommendation in respect of communication between different forces, made by chairman Sir Adrian Fulford because of concerns about the system for reporting \u201ccross-border offences\u201d between Merseyside and Lancashire.<\/p>\n He also said he appreciated that the inquiry recognised the bravery of the first police officers and Police Community Support Officer who attended the scene.<\/p>\n Carden added:<\/p>\n double quotation markFinally, I want to stress that our thoughts remain with the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie, and those who were injured and traumatised by the events at the Hart Space on 29 July 2024.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Nicola Brook, a solicitor in the major inquests and inquiries team at Broudie Jackson Canter, representing the three adult survivors at the Southport Inquiry, said: \u201cOur clients were heroes, each acting with great bravery to mitigate the consequences of the barbaric attack.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have, however, suffered a deluge of unjustified criticism on social media, and we hope these comments will now cease following the chair\u2019s clear praise and confirmation that they did all they could.<\/p>\n \u201cThe report crystallises one of our key concerns throughout \u2013 that every organisation tried to shirk responsibility, and that there was a disturbing lack of leadership. This is not the first time we have heard this at an inquiry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is evident, time and time again, that there is a culture within government agencies to place their own reputations above their fundamental duty to protect society, and a failure to properly reflect on their conduct once presented with clear evidence that they failed on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n \u201cOf the 67 recommendations made by the chair, thoughts must now turn to what mechanism needs to be employed to make sure these changes are actioned in their entirety, and if they are not, how those who seek to sidestep their responsibility are held to account.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Report reveals ‘systemic failure of state’ to prevent Southport murders, says home secretary<\/p>\n The Southport inquiry has revealed a \u201csystematic failure of the state\u201d, home secretary Shabana Mahmood has said.<\/p>\n She said in a statement:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe senseless killing of three young girls in Southport was a devastating tragedy that will leave a lasting mark on our national conscience.<\/p>\n Sir Adrian\u2019s report is heartbreaking. It shows a systematic failure of the state to prevent a vile and sickening individual perpetrating this atrocity.<\/p>\n My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all the victims of the Southport attack. They have shown immense bravery in taking part in this inquiry despite facing unimaginable grief.<\/p>\n This government has already taken action to prevent such an awful tragedy from happening again, and we won\u2019t hesitate to do what is needed to protect the public. We owe victims nothing less.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.29 EDT<\/p>\n Chairman of the Southport inquiry Sir Adrian Fulford concluded his statement at Liverpool town hall with a minute\u2019s silence in memory of the victims of the attack.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markFinally, and of the highest importance, we should conclude phase one of this inquiry by focusing our thoughts on the deceased, the other victims and all their families.<\/p>\n I ask we all stand for a minute\u2019s silence to pay tribute to the three young girls who were killed, to all those who were physically and psychologically injured (some very gravely and with significant enduring consequences), and to their families whose lives have been irreparably changed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Starmer: Southport report ‘truly harrowing and profoundly disturbing’<\/p>\n In a statement, prime minister Keir Starmer said that the \u201cbrutal, senseless murders of Bebe, Elsie and Alice marked one of the darkest moments in our country\u2019s history\u201d.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt is a tragedy we will never forget. I have been overwhelmed by the bravery and determination of their families, and as prime minister, I will do everything I can to honour their memory.<\/p>\n The report today is truly harrowing and profoundly disturbing. It sets out in stark detail the systemic failures over the five years that led to this terrible event, and the repeated missed opportunities that could have prevented it.<\/p>\n While nothing will ever bring three little girls back, erase the trauma from those injured, or undo the lasting impact on those who witnessed such horror, I am determined to make the fundamental changes needed to keep the public safe.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.18 EDT<\/p>\n Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, a solicitor at the law firm Fletchers which represented 22 of the injured children at the inquiry, said: \u201cIt is clear there is a need for whole-scale system reform across health and social care, education and policing.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Sir Adrian Fulford has said, the findings of this inquiry are disturbing and frankly depressing. These calls for organisational and individual accountability must be heard. They must be acted upon.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan-Donnelly added:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe families we represent have shown courage, strength and honour in the darkest of days.<\/p>\n Their lives have been permanently altered by these heinous acts of violence.<\/p>\n The physical and emotional scars inflicted on them are a daily reminder of something that we now know could and should have been prevented.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Downing Street reiterated that the Southport killings must be a \u201cline in the sand\u201d after an inquiry found that Axel Rudakubana\u2019s attack \u201ccould and should have been prevented\u201d.<\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s official spokesman said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe home secretary is going to respond to this report and its harrowing contents in the House shortly.<\/p>\n I won\u2019t get ahead of her, but as the prime minister said last year, this terrible event must be a line in the sand for Britain.<\/p>\n We must get the families and people of Southport the answers they deserve.<\/p>\n This must be a moment of fundamental change for how we protect our citizens and our children.<\/p>\n That\u2019s exactly why we launched the inquiry as soon as we could, once justice was served to the offender in question.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Wynn, chief executive of Lancashire County Council, said he is \u201cdeeply sorry\u201d for the failures identified in the inquiry report.<\/p>\n In a statement, he said:<\/p>\n double quotation markLancashire County Council acknowledges the chair\u2019s findings and thanks Sir Adrian Fulford for his thorough and rigorous examination of the events preceding this tragedy.<\/p>\n Our thoughts are with the families of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, with all those who were injured, and with everyone whose lives were changed by the attack in Southport on 29 July 2024.<\/p>\n We are deeply sorry for the failures identified and for the part we played in the systemic shortcomings that preceded the attack in Southport. We know that no words can ease the grief of the families who lost loved ones, or the pain of those who were injured and traumatised.<\/p>\n Since 2019, we have made substantial changes to our safeguarding practice, and the chair\u2019s findings will inform our continued improvement. We are committed to implementing all recommendations directed to us in full.<\/p>\n Wynn added:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe also welcome the chair\u2019s recognition that the current regulatory framework was not designed for cases like this.<\/p>\n We will continue to work with government and partner agencies to advocate for the systemic reforms needed \u2013 including a dedicated multi-agency framework for managing individuals who may pose risk to others, and clearer statutory guidance on threshold decisions.<\/p>\n We remain committed to cooperating fully with the inquiry as it moves into its next phase.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In a statement given at Liverpool town hall as the report was published, Fulford said he has \u201cno doubt that if appropriate procedures had been in place and if sensible steps had been taken by the agencies and AR\u2019s parents, this dreadful event would not have happened\u201d.<\/p>\n He added:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt could have been and it should have been prevented.<\/p>\n He said the failure, at an organisational and individual level, to \u201cstand up and accept responsibility\u201d for managing the risk the killer posed was a \u201cfrankly depressing \u2013 and therefore urgent \u2013 matter requiring government attention\u201d.<\/p>\n Fulford added:<\/p>\n double quotation markFar too often, AR\u2019s \u2018case\u2019 was passed from one public sector agency to another in an inappropriate merry-go-round of referrals, assessments, case-closures and \u2018hand-offs\u2019.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Fulford also criticised agencies for failing to investigate Rudakubana\u2019s \u201cchilling\u201d internet use, finding that his interest in \u201cdegrading, violent and misogynistic\u201d content fed his obsession with violence and led him to build an arsenal of weapons, including knives, a crossbow, petrol bombs and material to make the deadly poison ricin.<\/p>\n The judge said he would consider in the second phase of the inquiry whether there should be a new power to monitor or restrict the internet use of young people who are believed to pose a threat.<\/p>\n Fulford said the \u201cpervasive failure to act on [Rudakubana\u2019s] dangerous, with some notable exceptions, was a fundamental failure in this case\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Josh_Halliday.png\")
Josh Halliday<\/p>\nJosh Halliday<\/p>\n