The father of Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana has told the public inquiry he accepts part of the blame for the tragedy but said he was frightened of his violent teenage son.
00:00At Liverpool Town Hall, a public inquiry heard from the father of the teenager behind the Southport killings.
00:06Giving evidence from a remote location, Alphonse Rudiger Barna described his son Axel's violent outbursts as random, saying they could happen twice a day.
00:14He told the inquiry that fear stopped him from acting as a parent should, admitting he avoided checking his son's online activity or questioning what he was buying.
00:22Axel Rudiger Barna murdered seven-year-old Elsie Dotstankham, six-year-old B.B. King and nine-year-old Alistair Sylvia Aguirre during an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on the 29th of July last year.
00:35His father said, this had catastrophic consequences for which I am desperately sorry.
00:40Questioned by counsel to the inquiry, Nicholas Moss Casey accepted he should have taken greater responsibility but said he had been frightened after his son poured oil over his head and threatened to kill him.
00:51He described Axel's eyes as red and full of mental anguish.
00:55The inquiry heard the teenager had been permanently excluded from Range High School in October 2019 after admitting to Childline that he had taken a knife to school ten times.
01:06Mr Rudiger Barna later complained to Childline for breaching confidentiality, saying his son had sought help for dark thoughts of using a knife but was reported to the police.
01:14Head teacher Joanne Hodson from the Acorn School, a pupil referral unit, previously told the inquiry the boy's parents did not react when he admitted bringing a knife to school.
01:24Mr Rudiger Barna denied that, saying they were dying inside.
01:28He told the inquiry he believed referrals to the government's PREVENN programme were malicious but by that stage he'd lost control of his son.
01:36He added he was unaware of disturbing images his son viewed at home, including anti-Semitic and anti-Islamist material.
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