'I was angry Southport killer did not face me in court'

A girl who survived the Southport attack that claimed the lives of three girls has said she was angry she did not get the chance to face the "coward" who injured her in court.

The 14-year-old, who the BBC has called Sarah to protect her identity, was left with life-threatening injuries when Axel Rudakubana attacked children and adults at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop on 29 July 2024.

Ahead of the first anniversary of the attack, she said she had wanted to give evidence at his trial, but his guilty plea had denied her the chance.

"I was really angered by the fact he just turned round and said 'I plead guilty' [because] he didn't have to face us," she said.

Seven year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice Aguiar, aged nine, and six-year-old Bebe King died in the attack, while eight other children and two adults were injured.

Sarah has previously spoken to the BBC's Judith Moritz about what happened on the day of the attack, which left her with injuries to her back and arm.

She told BBC Radio Merseyside the attack and the aftermath had shown her "the worst and the best of humanity".

"I was in hospital for exactly a week," she said.

"All through [that time], it was obviously quite tough, but I was moved on to a ward with a few of the other girls and it was just lovely to see them all.

"We were all just geeing each other on - when one of us would start walking, then another one would say 'I'm going to get up and do that'."

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Rudakubana was arrested on the day of the attack, but initially denied responsibility for them, before changing his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial in January.

He then refused to leave his cell to face the court when he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 52 years three days later.

Sarah had prepared a victim impact statement, which she had hoped to read directly to her attacker.

"I wanted to get my story out there... and I felt like it would be a bit of closure for me as well," she said.

"It didn't end up happening in the end, which was tough and angering, because we'd had all that build-up, stress and anxiety.

"Everyone [told me] 'we don't know how you're going to be afterwards', and I said 'will you just let me do it and then I'll see?'

"I was really angered by the fact he just turned round and said 'I plead guilty' [because] he didn't have to face us.

"He's just a coward at the end of the day, targeting kids in the first place."

Sarah said she wanted move forward in a positive way and hoped to make a difference by setting up a charitable clothing brand with her sister, who also survived the attack, with support from their parents and family friends.

She said it would be called GABA, which stands for "Go Anywhere Be Anything", and a percentage of sales would help charities that focus on mental health, fund bleed packs and help to tackle knife crime.

"I want everyone who leaves high school to be first aid-trained," she said.

"Everyone that is carrying knives or hurting each other is getting younger and younger.

"It's annoying that it's people who are my age.

"Hopefully, if they went through these courses, they might take a second thought about what they're doing."

Sarah's efforts echo those of yoga instructor Leanne Lucas, who also survived the attack and recently said she wanted to drive a cultural shift in which people swapped their traditional pointed-tip blades with blunt-ended knives, which presented a much lower risk of causing serious injury.

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