On July 29, 2024, the seaside town of Southport was shattered by an act of violence so chilling and calculated that its reverberations are still being felt across the United Kingdom. Three young girls—Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven—were brutally murdered during a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class, an event meant to be filled with laughter, music, and friendship bracelets. Instead, it became the site of one of the country’s most disturbing child murders in recent memory.
The attack, carried out by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, left not only three families devastated but also eight other children and two adults seriously injured. According to Sky News and BBC, Rudakubana stormed into The Hart Space on a quiet business park around midday, armed with a kitchen knife. He began stabbing indiscriminately, but as the public inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall has revealed, his violence was not random. The pink-coloured flyer for the event and the fact that it was organized by two women pointed to a chilling reality: Rudakubana specifically targeted women and girls. Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry, stated, “So this brings into play the fact that AR was, it appears, specifically targeting women and girls. Of course, when you then add in their ages and the targeting of an event where AR may have thought the girls’ parents would not be present, it all means in combination that the attack was so manifestly and extremely cowardly.”
Rudakubana was sentenced in January 2025 at Liverpool Crown Court to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 52 years after admitting to the “sadistic” murders and attempted murders. The court found that he had no particular terrorist cause; his motivation was, in the chilling words of the prosecution, “mass murder as an end in itself.”
Yet, as the inquiry has painstakingly detailed, there were a series of missed opportunities and warning signs leading up to the tragedy. Rudakubana’s troubling history included attacking a schoolmate with a hockey stick, carrying knives on public transport and into school, and being repeatedly referred to the Prevent anti-terror program. He was found to possess an al Qaida manual and had even attempted to manufacture the poison ricin. On the day of the attack, he deleted his internet browsing history on some devices but used another to search for the “Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbing” in Australia just minutes before setting off for the dance class. Police also discovered disturbing images on his devices, including those of terrorist Mohammed Emwazi (“Jihadi John”), Nazi iconography, and graphic depictions of violence, antisemitism, and misogyny.
One of the most troubling aspects revealed by the inquiry was the procurement of the murder weapon and other knives. According to Sky News, Rudakubana’s parents had accepted deliveries of machetes and knives on multiple occasions and tried to hide them from their son. A knife used in the attack was ordered via Amazon using his father’s details, delivered to their home on July 15, 2024. Previous deliveries included a 22-inch machete and other large blades, some ordered with stolen or borrowed identification documents. The inquiry heard that Rudakubana’s parents were “scared” of his violent outbursts and feared for their safety if they questioned him about the packages or attempted to tidy his room. Nicholas Moss KC told the hearing, “It may be said to be apparent that AR’s parents were aware of other aspects of AR’s conduct that might have been expected to give rise to a concern.”
The emotional toll on the victims’ families was made painfully clear during the inquiry. Lauren King, mother of six-year-old Bebe King, delivered a powerful and heartbreaking statement: “This was preventable. And no other child, no other family, no other community should ever endure what we now live with every single day.” She described the anguish of waiting for news about her daughter and the trauma of learning of Bebe’s death while standing in the street. “These are moments no form of therapy can ever resolve,” she said, her voice rising in anger as she demanded accountability from those who failed to prevent the tragedy.
Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar, parents of Alice, described the scene of “panic and terror” when they arrived to collect their daughter, only to find devastation and injured children everywhere. Alexandra recounted, “I saw devastation everywhere, blood smeared on the walls, cries and sobs of little girls in fear and agony from their wounds.” After 13 agonizing hours at Southport hospital, they were told their only daughter had not survived. “We just hope that she couldn’t feel any pain and that she wasn’t scared,” Alexandra said. “This haunts us both. We live with this thought most days now.”
Jenni Stancombe, mother of Elsie, emphasized that the tragedy went beyond the issue of knife crime. “The issue runs much deeper than the weapon that was used,” she told the inquiry. “It’s about the root causes, the drive, the intent, and the series of failures that allowed it to happen.” She described the chaos as she and her husband rushed to the scene, the horror of searching among wounded girls for their daughter, and the unbearable moment when police confirmed Elsie had died. “Elsie’s life was stolen, robbed in the most traumatic way,” she said. “What we saw that day will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”
The inquiry, chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford, has pledged to leave no stone unturned in its quest for answers. It is examining the full background of Rudakubana, his contact with state agencies including police, schools, and social services, and the legal vulnerabilities that allowed him to amass weapons. The families of the victims, as well as the broader public, are demanding not just explanations but real change to prevent future tragedies.
In the immediate aftermath, misinformation about Rudakubana’s background sparked unrest across the UK, with mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers targeted and more than 1,000 arrests made. The ripple effects of the tragedy highlight the urgent need for clear communication and responsible public discourse in times of crisis.
As the inquiry continues, the pain and courage of the families serve as a stark reminder of the human cost of systemic failures. Their calls for accountability and reform echo far beyond Southport, challenging society to confront uncomfortable truths and to act decisively to protect its most vulnerable.
