Southport attack ‘could and should have been prevented’, inquiry finds

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana had “clearly revealed” he was an extreme danger and his attack on a children’s dance class “could and should have been prevented”, a public inquiry has found.The teenager, who was jailed for a minimum of 52 years, could have been stopped if his parents had “done what they morally ought to have done”, or if appropriate arrangements had been put in place by agencies to address his risk, chairman of the Southport Inquiry Sir Adrian Fulford said in his report, published on Monday.Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered when Rudakubana entered the Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in The Hart Space, armed with a knife, on July 29 2024.