Southport families call for accountability as inquiry evidence concludes

The families of the three girls murdered by the Southport attacker have called for accountability as the first phase of the public inquiry heard a final day of evidence.

Nine weeks of hearings, held at Liverpool Town Hall, finished on Thursday when the parents of Axel Rudakubana gave evidence.

Rudakubana, then aged 17, murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar and attempted to kill 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year.

In a statement after the evidence had finished, Elsie’s parents Jenni and David Stancombe, said the inquiry had shown “in painful detail” missed opportunities and failings that led to their daughter’s death.

They said the statements from the killer’s parents had only added to their “unbearable pain” and they believed Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire should be held to account for “what they allowed to happen”.

They added: “Parents should be culpable when they knowingly allow such evil to exist unchecked under their own roof, when they know what their child is capable of and choose to do nothing.

“The values of our society depend on each of us taking responsibility. They chose not to, and because of that, we no longer have the chance to watch our kind, loving, beautiful little girl, who didn’t even know what bad was, grow up. Because of him, and because of them.”

Alice’s parents Alex and Sergio Aguiar addressed Mr Rudakubana and Ms Muzayire in a statement, saying: “Your failure to take responsibility, to act, and to intervene when there were clear signs of danger, directly contributed to the devastating loss of our daughter’s life.”

They added: “We cannot comprehend how such an outcome was allowed to unfold when there were opportunities to act — when intervention, care, and responsibility could have prevented this.

“It is unacceptable that the inaction of individuals and the shortcomings of the system have led to such irreversible pain.

“We call upon lawmakers and authorities to recognise the urgent need for reform.

“Parents must be held accountable for the actions and behaviours of their children when they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent harm.

“The system must be strengthened to identify risks, act upon them, and protect the innocent before tragedy strikes.

“Our daughter’s death must not be in vain. Let her memory serve as a call for accountability, change, and justice.”

Lauren and Ben King, whose daughter Bebe was killed, described the evidence of Rudakubana’s parents as “deeply disturbing and shameful”.

They said: “Time after time, they had opportunities to intervene, to stop this, to protect others.

“If they had acted with any real sense of duty, Bebe, Elsie and Alice would still be here. It is that simple.

“What we’re struggling to comprehend is not just their failure then, but their failure now – to acknowledge, to take responsibility, to face up to what they allowed to happen.”

In the statement, issued through their legal representative at Bond Turner, Chris Walker, they said there were “countless chances” to intervene but “those in power looked the other way”.

They added: “These were not unavoidable errors. These were systemic failures, and every agency involved must now be held accountable.”

Nicola Brook from Broudie Jackson Canter, the solicitor representing adult victims Leanne Lucas, Heidi Liddle and Jonathan Hayes, said: “The sheer volume of mistakes and missed opportunities revealed during this section of the inquiry has come as a shock to our clients and raised new concerns and questions.

“We expected failings but we did not expect them to be on such a prolific scale, across multiple agencies.

“It has since been revealed that a record number of referrals have been made to the counter-terrorism programme, Prevent, with a significant increase following the attack.

“Our question remains – when will this programme work?”

Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford, who is expected to complete a report on the first phase of the inquiry by next spring, said the obligation was to provide answers to victims and their families.

Concluding the hearings, he said: “Our principal responsibility lies to them to provide the best possible explanation as to why and how this terrible event occurred, and to be brave about suggesting the changes that ought to be made to prevent, if we can, a repetition.”

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.