Southport 'angry' that killer known to authorities

In July last year, a seaside resort in the north-west of England was left in shock after three young girls were murdered during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

United in grief, the community of Southport came together to offer each other support in the days and weeks after then-17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, armed with a knife, went on a "meticulously planned rampage" on 29 July.

He killed Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and injured another 10 victims.

But grief has turned to anger for some residents in the town, who are demanding answers after it emerged that Rudakubana was known to authorities prior to the attack.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced there would be a public inquiry into missed opportunities to stop Rudakubana.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the inquiry would be given all the powers it needed to assess whether red flags were missed.

It will be welcomed by the people of Southport.

Tracy Jones runs The Plant Room, a specialist houseplant shop on Southport's Market Street, less than a couple of miles from Hart Street and the centre where the attack took place.

She said: "Southport has got a lot of questions - and the biggest one is why? But also, how was this allowed to happen?"

Rudakubana, now 18, from Banks, in west Lancashire, unexpectedly pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder, one charge of possession of a knife, along with two terror-related charges on Monday.

"I don't think a line can be drawn in the sand yet at all," said Mrs Jones.

"It's going to take a long while for Southport to properly get its head around what's happened, and why it happened, and to move on from that.

"It is going to be really prevalent in people's minds now until we get some answers."

Ian Hayward, who runs a TV and electrical repairs shop on Hart Street, said he was "appalled" to learn Rudakubana was known to the authorities.

"That he's been on the radar for a long, long time, and nothing was done about it - it is quite beyond me how that could be let by," he said.

"He should have been taken off the streets a long time ago."

Earlier, Cooper said public bodies had "completely failed to identify the terrible danger that [Rudakubana] posed".

She also said there would be a "thorough review" of the anti-extremism programme Prevent, after it emerged that Rudakubana was referred to it on three separate occasions between 2019 and 2021 over his general obsession with violence.

Lancashire Constabulary officers responded to calls from the teenager's home address five times between October 2019 and May 2022, relating to concerns about his behaviour.

There were also repeated referrals to safeguarding services, children's social care and adolescent mental health services and a referral to the youth offending team after Rudakubana's conviction for a violent offence.

Sarah McEntee, who runs a Royal British Legion community hub in the centre of the town which helped victims' families after stabbings, said the fact Rudakubana had been known to the authorities "brings another large dose of anger" among local people.

"The town has been trying to dig itself out of this really big hole - to get on with life - and we've been pulled back into that," she said.

She welcomed the inquiry announcement but said there was a "sense of mistrust" in the town, adding it would be "another hard moment" for Southport when the findings were revealed.

Andrew Brown, director of local website Stand up for Southport, said any public inquiry needed to be "thorough and open" and ensure "action is taken".

"The legacy of this tragedy has to be that lessons are learned and that it never happens again," he said.

Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said she welcomed the government's commitment to a public inquiry and any lessons that could be learned to stop "anything like this from happening again".

"A public inquiry is the best way to do that," she said. "We want to give the families answers."

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