The brother of the Southport attacker has told a public inquiry he feared he would kill someone two years before he carried out his stabbing.
Giving evidence to the Southport Inquiry on Tuesday, Dion Rudakubana said his brother Axel reminded him of the sociopathic murderer in film No Country For Old Men.
Rudakubana was 17 when he murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year.
Dion Rudakubana, two years older than his brother, described violent outbursts from his younger brother, which he said used to take place when they were in the car on the way to school together, but got worse when Rudakubana was expelled in October 2019.
The 21-year-old, who gave evidence to the Liverpool Town Hall hearing via videolink from a remote location, said in a statement his brother’s behaviour remained “unpredictable and inconsistent”.
He said: “I had to be cautious if I did speak to him because any disagreement could escalate into an argument.”
He also described plates and glasses being smashed by his brother in the home.
The inquiry was shown messages Dion Rudakubana sent to a friend when he returned home during his first year of university in December 2022.
In the messages, Dion Rudakubana spoke about his brother and said: “The risk of him doing something potentially fatal is the major concern.”
He told the inquiry: “There had been various events where we had to call the police out where indications were there.”
In another message, he said: “The fights are scary because of the danger of someone dying.
“My brother doesn’t really show mercy so my dad just has to try not to die.
“We hide knives to mitigate that factor.”
Richard Boyle, counsel to the inquiry, asked: “You had serious fears that your brother would kill a member of your family?”
Dion replied: “If things escalated to that point.”
He said he thought the fear existed before Christmas 2022.
“I remember being scared going to university,” he said.
He said he could not remember being asked whether Rudakubana was violent by social services or the police.
Asked if he thought to tell anyone, he said; “No because it had been brewing, it’s not something that just appeared.”
Asked how his parents responded to his violence, he said: “It didn’t make sense to try and punish and also there was a heavy risk of doing so.
“He didn’t trust anyone and he needed support.”
He agreed his parents had “lost control” of his brother from 2019 onwards.
He said he had watched the film No Country For Old Men recently and the main character, who killed more than 10 people and he said was meant to be a sociopath, reminded him of his brother.
“That’s why it concerned me,” he said.
“I felt the threat to be within the home. Even then nothing had ever come of it.”
Dion Rudakubana said his brother “dominated the living room” of the family home from 2021 so he did not spend time in there.
He said: “I was told by my parents to be careful.”
His last interaction with his brother was in summer 2023 when his parents asked the younger sibling to say goodbye and he responded by throwing a metal bottle at him, he said.
He added: “I think they closed the door before the bottle got to me.
“It was not very significant in itself other than it being the last interaction.”
He said it was consistent with the other behaviour Rudakubana was showing at the time.
Rudakubana’s parents Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire are due to give evidence to the inquiry later in the week.
Reporting restrictions prevent publication of any details which may identify where the family currently lives.
The inquiry will continue on Wednesday.
