world
Southport Inquiry Set to Publish Phase 1 Report on 2024 Knife Attack
The Southport Inquiry, established after a knife attack that killed three girls in July 2024, will release its first report today. The inquiry examines the attacker's history and interactions with public bodies. Phase 2 will address multi-agency responses to risks from young people with violent tendencies.
Apr 11, 7:19 PM·2m read1 source
Substrate placeholder — needs reviewAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
The Southport Inquiry was established following a knife attack on 29 July 2024 at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in Southport, Merseyside. The attack resulted in the deaths of Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, and Bebe King, aged six. Ten others were seriously injured during the incident at the Hart Space dance studios.
The inquiry was commissioned by then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to review the timeline of the attacker's history and his interactions with public bodies. Hearings for Phase 1 began on 8 July 2024 for two days and reconvened on 8 September 2024 for nine weeks. The phase concluded in November 2024 after evidence from witnesses, surviving victims, families, and bereaved parents.
1 Phase 1 focused on establishing a detailed account of the events on 29 July 2024.
Evidence included testimony from the attacker's parents, Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire. Alphonse Rudakubana stated that his son's behavior worsened after expulsion from Range High School in Formby, Merseyside, in October 2019 for carrying knives at school.
Alphonse Rudakubana reported reaching out to agencies for help but withheld information about the severity of issues at home to avoid his son being removed.
He did not inform mental health teams, police, or social services that his son had purchased weapons, including a machete, online. The inquiry, chaired by retired High Court judge Sir Adrian Fulford, gathered these details to understand the circumstances leading to the attack.
The Phase 1 report is scheduled for publication at 12:00 BST.
This report will provide findings on the events and interactions examined in the first phase. Phase 2 is expected to begin later in 2026 and will assess the adequacy of multi-agency systems in addressing risks from young people with fixations on extreme violence. The inquiry aims to identify any issues in the response to the attacker's history and prevent similar incidents.
