Southport attack: ‘catastrophic’ failures by multiple agencies contributed to atrocity, public inquiry finds – live updates
Report reveals ‘systemic failure of state’ to prevent Southport murders, says home secretary
The Southport inquiry has revealed a “systematic failure of the state”, home secretary Shabana Mahmood has said.
She said in a statement:
The senseless killing of three young girls in Southport was a devastating tragedy that will leave a lasting mark on our national conscience.
Sir Adrian’s report is heartbreaking. It shows a systematic failure of the state to prevent a vile and sickening individual perpetrating this atrocity.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all the victims of the Southport attack. They have shown immense bravery in taking part in this inquiry despite facing unimaginable grief.
This government has already taken action to prevent such an awful tragedy from happening again, and we won’t hesitate to do what is needed to protect the public. We owe victims nothing less.
Key events
Nicola Brook, a solicitor in the major inquests and inquiries team at Broudie Jackson Canter, representing the three adult survivors at the Southport Inquiry, said: “Our clients were heroes, each acting with great bravery to mitigate the consequences of the barbaric attack.
“They have, however, suffered a deluge of unjustified criticism on social media, and we hope these comments will now cease following the chair’s clear praise and confirmation that they did all they could.
“The report crystallises one of our key concerns throughout – that every organisation tried to shirk responsibility, and that there was a disturbing lack of leadership. This is not the first time we have heard this at an inquiry.
“It is evident, time and time again, that there is a culture within government agencies to place their own reputations above their fundamental duty to protect society, and a failure to properly reflect on their conduct once presented with clear evidence that they failed on multiple occasions.
“Of the 67 recommendations made by the chair, thoughts must now turn to what mechanism needs to be employed to make sure these changes are actioned in their entirety, and if they are not, how those who seek to sidestep their responsibility are held to account.”
Report reveals ‘systemic failure of state’ to prevent Southport murders, says home secretary
The Southport inquiry has revealed a “systematic failure of the state”, home secretary Shabana Mahmood has said.
She said in a statement:
The senseless killing of three young girls in Southport was a devastating tragedy that will leave a lasting mark on our national conscience.
Sir Adrian’s report is heartbreaking. It shows a systematic failure of the state to prevent a vile and sickening individual perpetrating this atrocity.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all the victims of the Southport attack. They have shown immense bravery in taking part in this inquiry despite facing unimaginable grief.
This government has already taken action to prevent such an awful tragedy from happening again, and we won’t hesitate to do what is needed to protect the public. We owe victims nothing less.
Chairman of the Southport inquiry Sir Adrian Fulford concluded his statement at Liverpool town hall with a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the attack.
He said:
Finally, and of the highest importance, we should conclude phase one of this inquiry by focusing our thoughts on the deceased, the other victims and all their families.
I ask we all stand for a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the three young girls who were killed, to all those who were physically and psychologically injured (some very gravely and with significant enduring consequences), and to their families whose lives have been irreparably changed.
Starmer: Southport report ‘truly harrowing and profoundly disturbing’
In a statement, prime minister Keir Starmer said that the “brutal, senseless murders of Bebe, Elsie and Alice marked one of the darkest moments in our country’s history”.
He said:
It is a tragedy we will never forget. I have been overwhelmed by the bravery and determination of their families, and as prime minister, I will do everything I can to honour their memory.
The report today is truly harrowing and profoundly disturbing. It sets out in stark detail the systemic failures over the five years that led to this terrible event, and the repeated missed opportunities that could have prevented it.
While nothing will ever bring three little girls back, erase the trauma from those injured, or undo the lasting impact on those who witnessed such horror, I am determined to make the fundamental changes needed to keep the public safe.
Josh Halliday
Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, a solicitor at the law firm Fletchers which represented 22 of the injured children at the inquiry, said: “It is clear there is a need for whole-scale system reform across health and social care, education and policing.
“As Sir Adrian Fulford has said, the findings of this inquiry are disturbing and frankly depressing. These calls for organisational and individual accountability must be heard. They must be acted upon.”
Ryan-Donnelly added:
The families we represent have shown courage, strength and honour in the darkest of days.
Their lives have been permanently altered by these heinous acts of violence.
The physical and emotional scars inflicted on them are a daily reminder of something that we now know could and should have been prevented.
Downing Street reiterated that the Southport killings must be a “line in the sand” after an inquiry found that Axel Rudakubana’s attack “could and should have been prevented”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said:
The home secretary is going to respond to this report and its harrowing contents in the House shortly.
I won’t get ahead of her, but as the prime minister said last year, this terrible event must be a line in the sand for Britain.
We must get the families and people of Southport the answers they deserve.
This must be a moment of fundamental change for how we protect our citizens and our children.
That’s exactly why we launched the inquiry as soon as we could, once justice was served to the offender in question.
Mark Wynn, chief executive of Lancashire County Council, said he is “deeply sorry” for the failures identified in the inquiry report.
In a statement, he said:
Lancashire County Council acknowledges the chair’s findings and thanks Sir Adrian Fulford for his thorough and rigorous examination of the events preceding this tragedy.
Our thoughts are with the families of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, with all those who were injured, and with everyone whose lives were changed by the attack in Southport on 29 July 2024.
We are deeply sorry for the failures identified and for the part we played in the systemic shortcomings that preceded the attack in Southport. We know that no words can ease the grief of the families who lost loved ones, or the pain of those who were injured and traumatised.
Since 2019, we have made substantial changes to our safeguarding practice, and the chair’s findings will inform our continued improvement. We are committed to implementing all recommendations directed to us in full.
Wynn added:
We also welcome the chair’s recognition that the current regulatory framework was not designed for cases like this.
We will continue to work with government and partner agencies to advocate for the systemic reforms needed – including a dedicated multi-agency framework for managing individuals who may pose risk to others, and clearer statutory guidance on threshold decisions.
We remain committed to cooperating fully with the inquiry as it moves into its next phase.
In a statement given at Liverpool town hall as the report was published, Fulford said he has “no doubt that if appropriate procedures had been in place and if sensible steps had been taken by the agencies and AR’s parents, this dreadful event would not have happened”.
He added:
It could have been and it should have been prevented.
He said the failure, at an organisational and individual level, to “stand up and accept responsibility” for managing the risk the killer posed was a “frankly depressing – and therefore urgent – matter requiring government attention”.
Fulford added:
Far too often, AR’s ‘case’ was passed from one public sector agency to another in an inappropriate merry-go-round of referrals, assessments, case-closures and ‘hand-offs’.
Josh Halliday
Fulford also criticised agencies for failing to investigate Rudakubana’s “chilling” internet use, finding that his interest in “degrading, violent and misogynistic” content fed his obsession with violence and led him to build an arsenal of weapons, including knives, a crossbow, petrol bombs and material to make the deadly poison ricin.
The judge said he would consider in the second phase of the inquiry whether there should be a new power to monitor or restrict the internet use of young people who are believed to pose a threat.
Fulford said the “pervasive failure to act on [Rudakubana’s] dangerous, with some notable exceptions, was a fundamental failure in this case”.
‘Missed opportunity’ saw rookie police officers tell Rudakubana’s parents to hide their knives
Josh Halliday
The most striking missed opportunity was in March 2022, when Rudakubana went missing from home and was found with a knife on a bus, telling police he wanted to stab someone. He also admitted to thinking about using poison.
Instead of arresting the teenager as they should have done, Fulford said, Rudakubana was returned home by two rookie police officers, who advised his parents to hide their knives.
Had Rudakubana been arrested, his home would probably have been searched, leading to the discovery of the ricin seeds he had bought and the terrorist material on his computer, the report found.
Fulford concluded: “Rigorously putting out of mind the so-called ‘benefits of hindsight’, I have no doubt that if appropriate procedures had been in place and if sensible steps had been taken by the agencies and [Rudakubana’s] parents, this dreadful event would not have happened. It could have been and it should have been prevented.”
Rudakubana was referred three times to Prevent, the counter-terrorism agency, over concerning remarks he had made or material he had searched online at school.
Prevent dismissed his case each time on the basis that he had no clear ideology such as jihadism or rightwing extremism. Counter-terrorism officers have accepted this was a mistake.