Southport killer’s household ‘failed our kids’, say survivors’ mother and father as they name for brand new legislation to power family to report criminality – or face jail
People should be forced by law to report their children’s criminality or face jail, parents of two sisters who survived the Southport attack said today.
The mother and father, whose daughters were stabbed and narrowly survived Axel Rudakubana’s murderous rampage, spoke out days after an excoriating report into the atrocity blamed his parents for failing to alert the authorities to his spiralling violent behaviour.
The couple said they were appalled by the apparent ‘lack of remorse’ from Alphonse Rudakubana, 50, and Laetitia Muzayire, 54, when they gave evidence to the public inquiry and claimed they not only ‘failed’ their girls but also their own son as well.
In his damning report, published last week, Sir Adrian Fulford, chairman of the public inquiry, said the Rudakubanas knew their youngest son was hoarding weapons, including machetes, for at least a year before the July 2024 attack, and had planned to target his former school a week before.
They saw other weapons and a suspicious substance – later discovered to be ingredients for the deadly poison ricin – in his bedroom and found packaging for a knife when their son left the house on the day of the attack, but did nothing.
Merseyside police investigated the couple, who sought asylum in the UK after fleeing from the genocide in their home country of Rwanda, but last week confirmed there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.
As part of his recommendations, Sir Adrian said the Law Commission should consider whether parents ought to have a legal duty to report their children’s criminality to the authorities in such situations.
The parents of the girls agreed new legislation should be introduced, citing recent cases in the United States, where parents of school shooters have been successfully prosecuted for reckless conduct or involuntary manslaughter.
Axel Rudakubana was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 52 years, at Liverpool Crown Court in January
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were all murdered in the atrocity on July 29, 2024
Chairman Sir Adrian Fulford is overseeing the inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall
Sir Adrian’s report also highlighted a catalogue of failings by public agencies, such as the police, social services, mental health teams and Prevent, the Government’s anti-terror organisations.
They should ‘hang their heads in shame’ for failing to spot the risk Rudakubana posed, the couple told The Times.
The parents of the two girls said they had tried to shield their daughters from the litany of mistakes that almost cost them their lives, but said that, when they are old enough, they will want to know the full details, and that those responsible faced the consequences.
‘When they come of age, they’re going to read about this,’ the mother of the two sisters, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said.
‘We hope at least they can say, ”People were held accountable for what happened to us. It wasn’t swept under the carpet.”’
The girls’ father said he was particularly dismayed by how a headteacher was accused of stereotyping Rudakubana as a ‘black boy with a knife’ when she tried to flag the ‘very high risk’ he posed.
‘That stood out,’ the father said. ‘She’s just been shot down straight away for being racist. What world are we living in? It doesn’t matter what colour the person’s skin is, this is the situation.’
He also called for tougher penalties for those caught carrying knives in public.
‘It’s just too easy for people to be caught walking around with them and get a slap on the wrist,’ the father added.
Rudakubana was stopped by police with a knife on a bus aged 15, but instead of being arrested he was simply taken home and treated as a ‘vulnerable’ child because of his autism.
Officers did not know he had been caught carrying knives to school previously, or that he had been referred to Prevent three times.
Had he been arrested, and his home searched, police would likely have found ingredients he had ordered to make poison and terrorist material which he had downloaded from the internet.
It’s also likely he would have received a custodial sentence and more intervention and the attack could have been prevented, Sir Adrian said.
But, referring to two ‘copycat’ youths, who recently escaped jail despite trying to emulate Rudakubana, the girls’ mother said she was doubtful anything had changed to stop a similar attack in the future.
‘It’s still happening and [some] are not even getting jail time,’ she added. ‘There’s something going completely wrong. Lessons aren’t being learnt.’
She said her children were ‘different’ now to the ones that went to the dance club that day.
The eldest, now 12, was repeatedly stabbed in the back as she tried to protect her younger sister. But she is ‘weighed down by guilt’ and takes medication to cope with her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety.
The girls’ father had to take a year off work and their mother has still not returned to her job.
The couple claim they’ve received no support from Lancashire County Council, who have not been in touch since July 2024, and have been offered ‘just basic counselling’ instead of proper psychological help.
‘From the outside it does look like we’re all being looked after (but) the truth is we couldn’t feel any more isolated,’ the mother said.
However, she said talking to the families of the other injured girls did help.
‘No one understands what we’re going through apart from other families in our situation,’ the mother added.
‘It’s a group you never wanted to be friends with, but we’re so glad we do have them.’
Lancashire County Council has apologised for its failings and said it is committed to implementing Sir Adrian’s recommendations in full.
A spokesman added: ‘We have reached out to families through local schools and provided support.
‘We understand that needs will differ and may change over time and would welcome the chance to meet with families to understand how we can continue to help.’
To donate to the sisters’ charity, please email [email protected]
