Southport killer’s parents could have stopped deadly attack, inquiry finds

The Southport attack could have been prevented if Axel Rudakubana’s parents and multiple agencies had acted, a public inquiry has found.

The teenagers’ parents, Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire, could have stopped their son from murdering three children if they had ‘done what they morally ought to have done’, Southport Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford said in his report today.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered by Rudakubana during a Taylor Swift-themed dance workship on July 29, 2024.

The killer also attempted to murder eight other children as well as class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

In his 763 page report, Sir Adrian said Rudakubana’s mum and dad ‘created significant obstructions’ for various agencies to engage with their son and failed to stand up to his behavior and set boundaries.

The judge also pointed the blame at the organisations and agencies who ‘failed’ to ‘take ownership of the risk posed by Rudakubana before the attack.

He said: ‘I have no doubt that if appropriate procedures had been in place and if sensible steps had been taken by the agencies and AR’s parents, this dreadful event would not have happened.

‘It could have been and it should have been prevented.’

Sir Adrian said the failure for any individual to ‘stand up and accept responsibility’ for managing Rudakubana’s risk was ‘frankly depressing’ and required urgent attention from the Government.

His report was published following a nine-week inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall last year.

Rudakubana is currently serving a minimum of 52 years in prison for his crimes.

The Prime Minister responded to Sir Adrian’s report by pledging to ‘act on the recommendations’.

Sir Keir said: ‘There does have to be accountability, there should always be accountability.

‘The first most important thing is to look at what those recommendations are, what needs to change, and to be a Government that says “we’re going to carry this, we’re going to do what we said” – we gave our word on this and when we give our word, we’ll follow through on that.’

This is a breaking news story and is being updated

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