Findings of public inquiry into Southport attack to be published at midday
The findings of the public inquiry into the Southport attack are to be published at 12pm.
The inquiry heard evidence about the attack and the involvement of state agencies with killer Axel Rudakubana, 19, in the lead up to it.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered when Rudakubana entered the Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in The Hart Space, armed with a knife, on 29 July 2024.
The killer, then 17, also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas, and businessman John Hayes.
Key events
State failing to learn lessons of Southport attack, say victims’ lawyers
Josh Halliday
Ministers are “failing to learn the lessons” from the Southport attack and allowing violence-obsessed teenagers to remain a “catastrophic” threat to society, lawyers for victims of the atrocity have said ahead of the findings of an official inquiry.
A report on the July 2024 attack by the judge Sir Adrian Fulford, to be released on Monday, is expected to strongly criticise failings by a series of agencies, including the counter-terrorism programme Prevent.
The killer, Axel Rudakubana, was referred three times to Prevent but concerns were dismissed, partly because he did not express a clear ideology.
Counter-terrorism officials have since promised that those who are not clearly motivated by jihadism or other beliefs will now pass through Prevent if they have a clear obsession with extreme violence, like Rudakubana.
However, a Guardian analysis has found that barely one in 10 of the 3,400 cases highlighting these concerns in children and teenagers went on to receive anti-radicalisation support in the year to March 2025.
Chris Walker, the solicitor for the families of the three murdered girls – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine – said the system was “not fit for purpose and must undergo fundamental changes to reduce serious risks to society.”
Starmer: ‘We will act on inquiry’s recommendations’
Addressing whether the government would act on the recommendations of the Southport inquiry ahead of the findings being published on Monday, the prime minister told reporters: “I gave my word that we will get to the bottom of this and that’s why we’ve set up the inquiry.”
He added:
We will act on the recommendations, it’s really important that we do so. So obviously there will be the full report, there will be the recommendations, we can go through them in detail – but this, for me, is a matter of principle.
It’s absolutely right that we act on the findings of this, and we will act on those findings.
Questioned on whether organisations should be held accountable, Keir Starmer 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.
Obligation is to provide answers to victims and families, says inquiry chair
Chairman Adrian Fulford, who will publish his report at midday, said the obligation was to provide answers to victims and their families.
Concluding the hearings in November, he said:
Our principal responsibility lies to them, to provide the best possible explanation as to why and how this terrible event occurred, and to be brave about suggesting the changes that ought to be made to prevent, if we can, a repetition.
A second phase of the inquiry will be informed by the findings of phase one and is expected to focus on the risk posed by young people with a fixation, or obsession with, acts of extreme violence.
Solicitor: ‘This cannot be another navel-gazing exercise for government’
The inquiry, held over nine weeks at Liverpool Town Hall last year, heard from more than 100 witnesses, including 67 who gave live evidence.
It covered topics including Rudakubana’s involvement with health services, social care and education, and the three referrals to anti-terror programme Prevent which were made, and closed, before he carried out the attack.
Solicitor Nicola Brook from Broudie Jackson Canter, who represent Leanne Lucas, John Hayes and another adult survivor, Heidi Liddle, said:
Sitting through the extensive list of failings exposed during the first phase of the inquiry provoked an understandably complex mix of emotions for our clients, who battle the daily consequences of survivors’ guilt.
We hope the report will expose every entity that failed to act in time to prevent this catastrophic attack, and any agencies that are found to be at fault are committed to not just learning lessons but demonstrating, publicly, that they are committed to taking every step to prevent such an atrocity from happening again.
We cannot look back on this inquiry in years to come and summarise it as another navel-gazing exercise for the government.
She added:
There is no regulatory mechanism to ensure that recommendations are properly considered and acted upon at the end of an inquiry, which is why we are strongly urging the chair to implement a process to monitor the progress of all recommendations and provide evidence to support them, as happened at the Manchester Arena Inquiry.
Since that harrowing day, our clients’ thoughts have remained with the bereaved and will remain so today.
Findings of public inquiry into Southport attack to be published at midday
The findings of the public inquiry into the Southport attack are to be published at 12pm.
The inquiry heard evidence about the attack and the involvement of state agencies with killer Axel Rudakubana, 19, in the lead up to it.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered when Rudakubana entered the Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in The Hart Space, armed with a knife, on 29 July 2024.
The killer, then 17, also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas, and businessman John Hayes.
