Southport attacker’s father asked for social services details to be kept private

The father of the Southport attacker asked for information which could turn his family “upside down” not to be shared with the youth offending team, a public inquiry has heard.

The Southport Inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, has been hearing evidence about the involvement of social services with Axel Rudakubana and his family in the years leading up to the teenager’s attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 2024.

As well as being involved with children’s social care services, Rudakubana, now 18, worked with Lancashire Youth Offending Team (YOT) after he was convicted of assaulting a pupil with a hockey stick at his former school, the Range High School in Formby, in December 2019 and given a referral order.

On Tuesday, the inquiry was shown a Whatsapp message sent by Alphonse Rudakubana in November 2020 to a worker from the Child and Family Wellbeing Service in Lancashire, which ran the early help service.

In the message, Mr Rudakubana raised concerns about the sharing of his family’s personal information.

He said: “Not to say that there is something sinister, but because it is not necessary.”

He said the family expected a “high degree of confidentiality and sensitivity” from the service, which is voluntary.

He added: “Axel can trust you and say stuff as a child but we don’t expect you to record or share some information with others that can turn our family upside down.”

Mr Rudakubana said he did not understand why the YOT, which he described as “in charge of punishing Axel”, was involved in an assessment report.

He said: “Please don’t involve them any more.”

Sarah Callon, senior manager for Lancashire Youth Justice Services, said the message was “surprising”.

The inquiry heard during the course of the 10-month referral order Rudakubana had three 30-minute in-person sessions with educational-type interventions.

Records showed that on two occasions in September 2020, social worker John Fitzpatrick, from the YOT, attended their home in Banks, Lancashire, but Rudakubana refused to speak to him because he was angry that his father had cut the grass over the grave of his pet hamster.

On the first occasion, on September 9 2020, Mr Fitzpatrick noted that he would not issue a warning due to Rudakubana’s autism.

Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry, said: “On reflection, there is a pattern here of treating AR very generously and being very light touch?”

Ms Callon said: “I think what we would have expected to see on the records is further contacts.”

A note from the September 15 visit that year, when Rudakubana refused to speak to the social worker for a second time, recorded: “Axel has autism and this seems to be how he deals with his emotions.”

Ms Callon said the social workers were “not experts” in autism.

The inquiry heard that during a final referral order visit, in January 2021, Rudakubana told Mr Fitzpatrick his father had hit him.

It was recorded that this had happened after Rudakubana threatened to break his father’s laptop and kicked him.

As a result Mr Rudakubana, said to be “very remorseful”, was advised that social care did not support physical chastisement.

The inquiry heard that in February 2021, a month after the referral order ended, Mr Fitzpatrick received an email informing him a referral had been made to the Government’s anti-terror programme Prevent about Rudakubana, but he replied saying the teenager was closed to the youth offending team.

Ms Callon said: “I would have expected more professional curiosity, requesting more information.”

Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were murdered by Rudakubana, then 17, in his attack on the dance studio on Hart Street, Southport.

The inquiry continues.