Southport attack victim Leanne Lucas says 'we just lost faith in the world'

Southport yoga teacher Leanne Lucas has spoken publicly for the first time about the terrible impact this summer's stabbings has had on her and the local community. Leanne, who was working as a dance teacher at the Hart Space, was seriously injured in the July 29 attack, which claimed the lives of three little girls: six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar. She underwent surgery before being released to continue her recovery.

Last night, Leanne attended a candle-lit vigil held in Liverpool city centre to remember the women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence. Speaking to LBC, she said the attack "made us feel very unsafe", adding, "my purpose was creating wellbeing events for children and families, and for that to happen where I was, and for the words I spoke and the children spoke, for that to be trampled over has just really dampened all of our spirits, feeling unsafe, feeling like we just lost faith in the world really”.

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Leanne also spoke about the response from the people of Southport. "There has been a lot of love come from Southport," she said. "A lot of love come from all over the world. To be honest, the impact has been tragic, but there has been some glimmers, at times”.

“Hopefully people will be hearing a lot more from me in the future, after everything’s happened and things are finished, I'm hoping my voice will get louder and louder and people will join me in that. I'm not too sure how we'll ever move on, apart from use the girl’s memories as a driving force to change things for other people in the future, so this doesn't have to happen to them again”.

Leanne was joined at last night's vigil by Julie Dale, mum of Ashley Dale, who was shot dead in her own home in Old Swan by James Witham on August 21, 2022. In a moving address to a crowd of hundreds outside Liverpool Crown Court, Julie said: "Ashley was caught up in violence that has devastated our lives. It not only took my daughter but my best friend from me.

"Those life sentences have not made anything better for us. In fact, things are worse now, as I now know the senseless reason why my daughter's life was snatched away from her. We now have the life sentence, living with this every single day."

Julie finished with an emotional pledge to continue fighting to stop male violence against women and girls. She said: "This is for you, Ash, Olivia Pratt-Korbell, Ellie Edwards, Ava White and all the women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence. We love you, we miss you and we will not stop fighting in your name.

Organisers concluded the vigil by reading out the names of the 74 women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence on Merseyside since 2009.