00:00A public inquiry has found the Southport killings could and should have been prevented, highlighting serious failures by agencies and
00:09missed opportunities to act on warning signs.
00:12Three young girls, Alistair Silva, Agria, age 9, Baby King, 6 and Elsie Dotstankham, 7, were killed when 17-year
00:20-old Axel Rudica Barna entered a Taylor Swift-themed workshop in Southport armed with a knife.
00:26In a detailed report spanning more than 700 pages, Inquiry Chairman Sir Adrian Fulford found that Rudica Barna had clearly
00:34revealed he posed an extreme danger years before the attack.
00:39He said there was a fundamental failure by organisations to take ownership of that risk.
00:45Sir Adrian concluded that if appropriate procedures had been in place and if sensible steps had been taken by agencies
00:52and the attackers' parents, the attack would not have occurred.
00:55The inquiry heard that Rudica Barna had been referred three times to the government's prevent programme between 2019 and 2024,
01:02but each case was closed.
01:04During the same period, he acquired weapons, including machetes and materials to make the poison ricin.
01:10The report makes 67 recommendations, including proposals for a single agency to oversee high-risk cases and stronger powers to
01:18monitor or restrict internet access for vulnerable individuals.
01:22Lawyers representing injured children described the finding as disturbing and called for immediate action, warning this must not happen again.
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