Inquiry into Southport murders begins work

An inquiry into the Southport murders has formally begun its work looking at how to learn lessons from the attack, the Home Secretary has said.

Yvette Cooper announced the start of the two-phase statutory public inquiry, which will have legal powers to receive evidence and hear witness testimony, on Monday.

The probe comes after Axel Rudakubana was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years – one of the highest minimum terms on record – for murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.

The 18-year-old also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

The inquiry will be chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford, a former vice-president of the Court of Appeal who sentenced Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens to a whole-life term.

Ms Cooper said: “The brutal murder of three young girls: Bebe, Elsie and Alice in Southport was an unimaginable tragedy – we owe it to their families, and all those affected on that terrible day to quickly understand what went wrong, answer difficult questions and do everything in our power to prevent something like this from happening again.

“The Southport Inquiry will provide insights into any failings that allowed a young man with a previous history of violence, to commit this horrendous attack.”

The first phase of the probe will “thoroughly investigate” the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it, including Rudakubana’s interactions with multiple public bodies such as education and social care.

Three separate referrals were made to the Government’s counter-terror programme Prevent about Rudakubana’s behaviour in the years before the attack, as well as six separate calls to police.

A review into the Prevent referrals published in February found there was sufficient risk posed by Rudakubana to keep his cases within Prevent active, but these were closed prematurely while too much focus was placed on a lack of distinct ideology.

The final report for the first phase of the inquiry is expected to be completed by the end of the year or early 2026.

The second phase will examine the wider issue of young people being drawn into extreme violence.

The inquiry will draw on evidence from interviews with witnesses and disclosure from 15 organisations, including MI5, Counter-Terrorism Policing, NHS England and Merseyside Police.

Reacting to the inquiry launch, Nicola Brook, from law firm Broudie Jackson Canter – which represents survivors Ms Lucas and Mr Hayes, said: “Our clients are relieved that the evidence around that fateful day will be analysed as we know that the information currently in the public domain is the tip of the iceberg.

“We therefore fully support the work of the inquiry in its investigations and will be making applications for core participant status in due course.”