The mother of a young girl who was repeatedly stabbed during the Southport knife attack has revealed that her daughter asks if her attacker was loved, wondering “What happened to make him so angry?”
The public inquiry into the attack – which claimed the lives of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and left eight more children and two adults wounded – heard that the girl, known as Child Four to protect her identity, suffers from flashbacks and nightmares, and lives in “constant fear”.
The girl’s mother said that before attending the Taylor Swift-themed dance class where the horrific attack unfolded on 29 July last year, her daughter was carefree and vivacious, but she has since become fearful after killer Axel Rudakubana embarked on his rampage against the group of young children.
Another mother said her daughter had demonstrated a “level of bravery no child should ever need to show”, after her elder daughter protected her younger sister from being stabbed.
The woman, whose daughters were referred to as C2 and C7, said that the elder of the two, who had already been seriously injured, saw “pure fear” on her sister’s face as she crouched while Rudakubana stood over her with his knife raised.
She said: “Our eldest, just a child herself and already injured, dragged her sister in front of her to protect her.”
Her elder daughter was stabbed again before the girls scrambled to escape and became separated, she told the inquiry. Meanwhile, her younger daughter was stabbed in the back as she ran down the stairs to safety. She said that both girls are now living with “trauma that no child should carry”.
The woman said that her children knew little about the events of the day or their attacker, but the younger one had asked: “Are his mummy and daddy really mad for what he’s done?”
She said: “Eventually, they will ask more, and they will be able to search for information themselves. I have no doubt that it will be devastating to them if they are to read that this could have been prevented. We will have no option but to guide them through this.”
The mother of Child Four said that her daughter still suffers with deep insecurity about her surroundings, and the whole family is still processing the trauma.
She also spoke of her pride for her daughter and the bravery and compassion displayed by all of the young girls attacked that day.
“One of the last girls to escape the building alive, and with no adults in the building able to assist her, she had to advocate for herself and find her own way out,” she said.
“She tells us vividly about how she chose to wait and allow others out first because she had already been attacked and didn’t want them to be. She told them to run and not scream – advice she remembered being told when there had been a gas leak at her school.
“Clustered at the top of the stairs, she was attacked again.
“We are so proud of how kind and caring our girl is. Her finest qualities shone through in the darkest of moments. There are so many of these stories of heroism from all of the girls that day.”
The mother of Child L said that while her daughter was not physically harmed by Rudakubana, the emotional damage “[must] not be underestimated”.
She said: “She – along with the others present that day – was targeted by someone who we now know was already known to multiple agencies. That knowledge alone is a burden we carry every day.”
This week, the inquiry is due to hear impact statements from families of surviving children, who cannot be named; dance teachers Leanne Lucas and Heidi Liddle; and businessman Jonathan Hayes, who was stabbed when he left his office after hearing the attack unfold.
The first phase of the inquiry, which is due to run until November, is expected to hear details of previous incidents when Rudakubana was found with a knife, and of three referrals made to the government’s counterterror programme Prevent.
His involvement with the criminal justice system, his education, his engagement with social and healthcare services and his relationship with his family are all expected to be analysed.
A second phase of the inquiry is expected to look at addressing the risk posed by young people who have a fixation with extreme violence.
