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 behaviour and set boundaries.
'As NHS struggled, Tories were spending money on overpriced or defective PPE'
He said their actions ‘meant that relevant information was concealed from professionals’, including Alphonse not reporting to agencies about weapons he knew his son had ordered.
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.
This dated as far back as a ‘watershed event’ in 2019, when Rudakubana went to his former school, the Range High School in Formby, armed with a knife and a hockey stick and attacked a student.
Radakubana received a 10-month referral order after the attack at Range High School in Formby in 2019, but Sir Adrian said it should have led agencies to realise he posed a ‘high risk of harm to others’.
He added that the failure of any individual or organisation to ‘stand up and accept responsibility’ for managing Rudakubana’s risk was ‘frankly depressing’ and required urgent attention from the Government.
He added: ‘Far too often, AR’s “case” was passed from one public sector agency to another in an inappropriate merry-go-round of referrals, assessments, case-closures and “hand-offs”.’
The inquiry also found that agencies tended to ‘excuse’ violent behaviour because of Rudakubana’s autism.
Sir Adrian’s report was published following a nine-week inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall last year.
The chairman’s two ‘principal conclusions’ were that Rudakubana’s parents were to blame for not reporting his escalating behaviour and that health, education and policing agencies did not manage the risk the teenager clearly presented.
Mum took on British Coal and won battle over choking fumes and poisonous puddles
The inquiry judged that those organisations should have intervened earlier.
Rudakubana was referred to anti-terror programme Prevent three times between 2019 and 2024, but the referrals were closed, the inquiry heard.
Rudakubana also purchased a machetes and other weapons online, as well as ingredients he used to make the poison ricin.
Sir Adrian said his parents were aware their son had bought these weapons and knew he had tried to leave the house to carry out an attack on his old school just a week before the Southport stabbings.
The judge also said that Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire ‘knew of empty knife packaging once the perpetrator left the family home on the day of the fatal attack’.
His parents also failed to supervise the teenager as he became fixated on extreme violence and spent most of his time watching disturbing content online.
Sir Adrian continued: ‘Over a long period of time, [Rudakubana] had become an aggressive, near-total recluse, who bullied and threatened his family and unashamedly lied to officials,’ Sir Adrian said.
‘One of the most striking conclusions from this inquiry’s extensive investigation is the sheer number of missed opportunities over many years to intervene meaningfully, which directly contributed to the failure to avert this disaster.
‘Numerous systems that should have provided oversight, assessment and protection were ineffective or inadequately used.
‘Some failed outright. The consequences were catastrophic.’
The judge concluded his statement at Liverpool Town Hall with a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the attack.
The report published today concludes the first phase of the inquiry.
Sir Adrian recommended that the second phase of the inquiry consider abilities to restrict or monitor access to the internet of children if they pose a risk to others.
Rudakubana downloaded an Al-Qaeda training manual, a history of Nazi Germany and documents on wars in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Somalia and South Sudan prior to the attack.
He 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.’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that Sir Adrian’s report ‘is heartbreaking’ and shows a ‘a systematic failure of the state to prevent a vile and sickening individual perpetrating this atrocity.’
She added: ‘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.
‘This government has already taken action to prevent such an awful tragedy from happening again, and we won’t hesitate to do what is needed to protect the public. We owe victims nothing less.’
Money & Markets Editor
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
