Southport killer may have targeted children because of ‘society value’ – brother

The brother of the Southport killer told the public inquiry into his attack he believes his sibling targeted children because it would “hurt societies particularly badly”.

Dion Rudakubana gave evidence over videolink to the Southport Inquiry for a second day at Liverpool Town Hall on Wednesday.

The screen showing him was shielded from public view.

The 21-year-old is two years older than Axel, who murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year.

The eldest sibling moved away to university in 2022 but would return to the family home in Old School Close, Banks, Lancashire, during holidays.

Asked about his brother’s motivation for the attack, Dion Rudakubana said: “Children are very valuable to society in that they are society’s future and it would hurt societies particularly badly if something like this happened.

“This is only a thought I have had in retrospect.”

He said he never heard his brother express concerning views about women or girls, and believed he held mainstream views but with an “unusual intensity or depth of feeling”.

Dion Rudakubana told the inquiry he was upstairs on the morning of July 29 when he saw his brother leave the house wearing a face mask.

He said: “I was going to go into the shower on the landing.

“He came upstairs, walked into his room, turned round, closed the door and then went out of the house.”

He said he did not believe his brother had left the house since March 2022, when he was arrested on a bus with a knife.

He told the inquiry: “I got a bit nervous initially, I was quite surprised. My mum then got up, I think she might have been in bed.

“The idea that he was going on a walk came about and my parents seemed very sure of this.

Richard Boyle, counsel to the inquiry, asked: “Your worry was that he wasn’t going on a walk, but would go out to carry an attack?”

Dion Rudakubana replied: “Initially, potentially, yes.”

He said he became less worried because his parents appeared to believe his brother had gone for a walk.

He said shortly after Rudakubana left the house his mother showed him packaging from a knife, said to have been found in the washing machine.

In a statement, Dion Rudakubana he said there were no discussions about contacting the police at that point.

He said by this point he believed his brother had gone for a walk and said: “I did not believe he intended to harm anyone and thought if he was carrying a knife it was to protect himself, not to harm others.”

Asked if he should have contacted police over his fears, he said: “It was not sufficient for me to do so.”

Dion Rudakubana told the inquiry he had returned home from university on July 26 last year and his father had told him his brother had done “something bad”.

He said he could not remember at what point his father explained that he had stopped Rudakubana as he attempted to take a taxi to his former school, Range High School, on July 22.

He said: “The reason why he gave any information at all about this was because he was telling me to be careful around him.”

The inquiry heard in a message to a friend on July 27 Dion Rudakubana explained what his father had told him, writing: “Your brother is dangerous. He can kill you.”

He said: “I don’t think he directly said that ‘he can kill you’ but rather indicated that there was a threat to life and I felt that.”

In a statement given to the inquiry, Dion Rudakubana also said: “I was and continue to be devastated and deeply saddened by the immense pain, anguish and grief my brother inflicted on July 29 2024 and I want to express my deepest condolences to all those involved.”

Rudakubana’s father, Alphonse Rudakubana, is due to give evidence later on Wednesday.