Mother of injured girl tells Southport inquiry ‘our girls deserve an apology’

The second day of the public inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall heard evidence from families of the children who survived the attack.

Transcript

00:00The mother of a girl who escaped the Southport knife attack has told a public inquiry our girls deserve an apology.

00:07On Wednesday, the second day of the public inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall,

00:11had evidence from families of the children who survived the attack,

00:15carried out by Axel Rudicabana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on the 29th of July last year.

00:21The mother of one girl who was seven when she suffered 33 stab wounds,

00:26said the inquiry must answer her daughter's questions about how the attack happened.

00:3118-year-old Rudicabana was given a life sentence in January,

00:35with a minimum term of 52 years for the murders of Alastair Silva Aguirre, 9, B.B. King, 6 and Elsie Dotstankham, 7.

00:43The woman whose daughter was referred to as C1 to protect her identity said,

00:48I want you to be in no doubt of the consequences of this horrific attack and what life looks like for our daughter.

00:53She said her daughter became known as a girl that was dragged back in after footage of her escaping was shown during the sentencing.

01:01But she is so much more than that moment on CCTV.

01:04Those moments carried so much courage and determination to survive that the CCTV footage does not tell us, the woman said.

01:12Counsel to the inquiry, Nicholas Moss Casey, paid tribute to the immense courage and dignity of the families.

01:17After hearing four statements, the hearing was adjourned until the 8th of September, when more impact evidence will be heard.

01:24The inquiry was opened on Tuesday by Chairman Sir Adrian Fulford,

01:28who described the acts of Rudicabana as one of the most egregious crimes in our country's history.

01:34In his opening statement, Sir Adrian said,

01:36Rudicabana posed a very serious and significant risk of violent harm with a particular unknown predilection for knife crime.