Southport families call for killer’s parents to be jailed and officials sacked

Axel Rudakubana’s parents have “blood on their hands” and should go to prison for what the inquiry into the murders called their “moral failure” to warn authorities about their son

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Three girls, including Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar (right) died in the attack in Southport(Image: PA)

The families of the three young girls killed in the Southport attack feel like they’ve been “in a horror movie”, their solicitor has said.He also said Axel Rudakubana’s parents have “blood on their hands” and should go to prison for what the inquiry into the murders called their “moral failure” to warn authorities about their son. Chris Walker, from law firm Bond Turner, also threatened to publicly name those whose failings led to the murders unless swift disciplinary action is takenBebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event on 29 July 2024 by twisted Rudakubana, then aged 17.

The official inquiry into their deaths concluded the tragedy “could and should have been avoided”. As well as blaming the killer’s parents, Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire, it also highlighted systemic failure across multiple agencies.

Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford identified five key areas where failures occurred concluding the attack was “foreseeable and avoidable”.

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Southport killer Axel Rudakubana(Image: PA)

These were an absence of risk ownership, failures in information sharing, a misunderstanding of autism, lack of oversight of his online activity and significant parental failures. In light of the findings Mr Walker called for individuals to face disciplinary action and lose their jobs.

He said he had written to the Government’s anti-terror programme Prevent, Lancashire County Council social services, Lancashire Constabulary, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (FCAMHS) to express “horror” at their conduct.

“We call for disciplinary proceedings to ensue against those individuals, who I know the names of. We want disciplinary proceedings against them to begin and to finish swiftly and that includes people losing their jobs.

“If we are not satisfied with the outcome of those disciplinary proceedings from a managerial level to a lower, coalface, level, to use that expression, then I will be publicly naming those individuals as people we say are not fit to serve in a public office,” he said.

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Elsie Dot Stancombe(Image: PA)

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Floral tributes laid at Sussex Road at the junction in Maple Street, Southport(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Mr Walker said the families of the three girls remained traumatised, extremely angry and felt as though they were “in a horror movie”.

He added: “We’ve had so many apologies, we’ve had so many statements that lessons will be learned. All of those statements, all those ‘lessons will be learned’, will never bring those children back, those families will have to live with that empty hole for the rest of their lives.”

Mr Walker said he did not believe Prevent, to which Rudakubana was referred three times, was fit for purpose, adding: “I have no faith in Prevent as an organisation.”

He highlighted the recent case of a 17-year-old from Merseyside who had been referred to Prevent twice, before he called police in August last year and told the operator he wanted to “re-enact Axel”.

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Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford(Image: PA)

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Alice da Silva Aguiar(Image: PA)

Mr Walker said he supported Sir Adrian’s recommendations to consider a single agency or structure to be appointed to monitor interventions for children presenting a high risk of serious harm.

And he called for the second phase of the inquiry to look at adopting a legal process of parental responsibility, after the chairman said the killer’s parents could have stopped their son if they had “done what they morally ought to have done”.

He said: “They should go to prison. They have blood on their hands. I’ve said that publicly, but I also acknowledge that the legal framework as it currently stands makes that very difficult, and so phase two of the report has to adopt a legal process of parental responsibility.

“There is a moral obligation to protect society at large from a murderer whose intent is to cause mass murder. There has to be a legal obligation.”

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Scene of the attack in Southport(Image: Liverpool echo)

The killer’s parents faced heavy criticism because they failed “to set boundaries, allowed knives and weapons into the home, and withheld crucial information in the days before the attack”.

Sir Adrian wrote: “AR’s family bears significant responsibility for failing to alert any appropriate agency whatsoever to the full extent of the risk of a serious or fatal attack by their son.

“Leading to July 29, they came into possession of crucial information which revealed that their son was covertly accumulating a number of deadly weapons and that he remained intent on carrying out some form of attack outside the home address.

“Their misguided and irresponsible motivation for not sharing this information was to avoid AR being taken into care or custody.”Phase two of the Southport inquiry will consider arrangements for identifying and managing risk posed by individuals fixated with extreme violence and is expected to report in spring next year.