Southport families express alarm after ‘copycat’ teenager avoids custody

The families of three girls killed in the Southport stabbings have said they were “extremely alarmed” after a teenager who wanted to carry out a copycat attack avoided a jail sentence.

Axel Rudakubana was 17 when he murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, six-year-old Bebe King and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July 2024.

Last week, a 17-year-old boy was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after he rang police in August last year and said he wanted to “re-enact Axel”, having collected four knives and bought a green hoodie similar to one worn by the killer.

In a statement released by their legal team on Tuesday, the families of the three girls expressed their shock and highlighted concerns, including that the teenager was twice referred to the Government’s anti-terror programme Prevent – but no action had been taken before his arrest.

The Southport Inquiry heard Rudakubana, called AR during the hearings, was referred to Prevent on three occasions before carrying out his attack.

The families said: “It is unimaginable to be reading about circumstances so painfully similar to those that led to the loss of our girls.

“Elsie, Bebe and Alice were failed at every possible point – failed by the very professionals and agencies who should have protected them. Had they acted decisively, our children would still be alive.

“Yet we now face the reality that a 17‑year‑old boy has admitted these offences, expressed ideologies aligned with AR – and still walks free.

“This is about repeated failures by agencies and professionals who knew better, and still did nothing.

“Our only hope through the inquiry was that no other families would have to endure what we have.

“But, the events relating to this teenager give us real concerns that changes that we were told in have occurred, appear to fail again.”

The court heard the boy described Rudakubana as a “hero” with similar interests in “genocides and that”.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, was sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order and criminal behaviour order, but avoided a custodial sentence after he pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing information likely to be useful to a person planning or committing an act of terrorism.

Legal representative for the families Chris Walker, director of serious injury at Bond Turner, said: “A number of details regarding this teenager and his background are seriously alarming and we felt it was only right that we commented given the focus of the Southport Inquiry and the numerous agencies that were involved with AR prior to the events of July 2024.

“The Prime Minister himself commented following the Southport attack that the institutional failings ‘leap off the page’ – and it would appear the same can be said here.”

He added: “The Stancombes, Aguiars and Kings heard months of evidence relating to the failures and missed opportunities to prevent AR from acting as he did throughout the public inquiry last year, and are extremely alarmed at similarities in this teenager’s course of conduct.

“We are extremely alarmed at the extremely serious fascination with mass murder, admiration for the Southport killer, and the violent material and manuals reportedly found in his possession, including knives and content capable of assisting a planned mass murderous attack.

“Against this backdrop, we are aghast that a non-custodial sentence and a referral to rehabilitation services have been considered reasonable in circumstances of such serious risk and repeated missed opportunities.

“Given the information in the press, we can not fathom why a rehabilitation order is considered the best way to protect the public rather than a custodial sentence.

“Our families have seen at first hand the devastation caused by the incompetence of rehabilitation and safeguarding pathways, as exposed during the Southport Inquiry.

“We will be writing to Sir Adrian Fulford to explore this case further and find out why it appears there has been a further Prevent failing.

“The Southport Inquiry has already revealed multiple agencies in disarray, including Prevent, policing, safeguarding, psychiatric risk assessments, multi-agency communication, and escalation.

“With such widespread systemic failures, we ask: how can the public be expected to have any confidence in the system?

“The Southport families remain united in demanding accountability, meaningful reform, and immediate action to ensure no other families endure the lifelong consequences of these repeated systemic failures.”

Southport Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford is expected to publish his report on the first phase of the hearings next month.