Axel Rudakubana described as 'pure evil' by grieving families

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


Axel Rudakubana, a teen who carried out killings in Southport last year, has been described as 'pure evil'.

The 18-year-old carried out attacks in the Hart Space during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July. Rudakubana killed three young girls - Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven during the attack.

At Liverpool Crown Court today (Thursday, January 23), have branded their daughters’ killer as “pure evil” whose actions have left them in “continuous pain”. Statements were read out by the families of the victims, with Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar, the parents of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, who was fatally stabbed by Axel Rudakubana, saying: “Our dream girl has been taken away in such a horrible, undeserving way that it shattered our souls.”

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The PA News Agency reports Elsie’s mother, Jenny Stancombe, had her statement read to the court by prosecutor Deanna Heer KC, in which she described the 18-year-old killer as “cruel and pure evil” and said his attack was “the act of a coward”.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Stancombe said: “The nature of your actions is beyond contempt. You deliberately chose that place, fully aware that there would be no parents present, fully aware that those girls were vulnerable and unable to protect themselves.

“This was not an act of impulse, it was premeditated.”

Her statement continued: “We are not going to stand here and list everything you have taken away from us, because we refuse to give you the satisfaction of hearing it. We will not let you know anything about her because you don’t deserve to know the extraordinary person she was.

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“You know what you have done, and we hope the weight of that knowledge haunts you every single day.”

Her final words for sentencing judge Mr Justice Goose were: “There is nothing that can undo the damage he has caused but knowing that he will never be free to cause any harm to vulnerable children again would give us a small measure of justice.

“Perhaps he will have the opportunity to contemplate the fear and terror he inflicted upon those girls, and we sincerely want the consequences to reflect the irreparable damage he has inflicted.”

The final victim impact statement came from the mother of the girl who was trapped in the toilet with Heidi Liddle while Rudakubana was in the building stabbing children on the other side of the door. The girl’s mother said the day started normally when she dropped her daughter, aged eight identified only as child X, off at the Taylor Swift event.

She continued: “When I arrived later to collect her, I arrived to chaos. I abandoned my car and ran to find one of the event leaders, Leanne, covered in cuts and blood and saying, ‘He just came in and stabbed us’.”

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She went to a house where children were sheltering to find her daughter. The statement continued: “My daughter wasn’t there and it quickly became apparent she was still in the building with the knifeman.

“At his point, time stood still and everything moved in slow motion. I ran towards the building and screamed her name.

“I now relive this feeling daily.”

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