The taxi driver who drove Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana to the scene has had his licence revoked after waiting 50 minutes to report the incident to authorities
The taxi driver who dropped off the Southport attacker before speeding away as children scattered from the scene had his taxi licence revoked due to his “fitness to hold it”. Axel Rudakubana was transported by a private hire vehicle, driven by Gary Poland, on the morning of 29 July 2024, prior to entering the Hart Space on Hart Street in Southport.
At this location, the then-17 year old launched a brutal assault on the Taylor Swift-themed workshop, resulting in the deaths of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and causing injuries to eight children and two adults. The Southport Inquiry earlier this year concluded that the murders “could and should have been prevented”, if measures had been taken to thwart the attacker.
The inquiry, which convened at Liverpool Town Hall for two months during the autumn, heard that Rudakubana had interactions with a host of public services including the police, counter terrorism, social care, youth justice and the NHS in the days, months and years leading up to the attack.
During the inquiry, it emerged that Gary Poland fled the scene of the attack after hearing screams and witnessing children escaping the building because he heard “four or five gunshots”.
The driver remembered witnessing six and seven year old youngsters “stampede for their lives” from the premises within 30 seconds of Axel Rudakubana’s assault. Yet after the incident, Mr Poland rang his mate twice and collected an additional passenger before he finally returned home and contacted police to share what he knew about the teenage murderer, reports the Liverpool Echo.
In his own testimony Mr Poland confirmed he was an “experienced private hire taxi driver” and had been doing it for 27 years at the time of the attack. He informed the inquiry it took him three years to qualify as a taxi driver, which included nights at college.
A Sefton Council spokesperson said: “Mr Poland no longer holds a taxi driver licence following a review into his fitness to hold it by the local authority. The council found he did not meet the appropriate standards.”
The ECHO understands Mr Poland tried to challenge the ruling but was unsuccessful.
This follows the inquiry hearing there would be a probe into Mr Poland regarding his conduct on the day of the assault.
Sefton Council’s head of taxi licences Mark Toohey informed the inquiry: “We have a licensing panel and a driver such as Mr Poland would be invited to make representations and supply any information that he thought was relevant to support him before any decision was made.”
This follows the government’s announcement of its response to phase one of the Southport Inquiry, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood declaring the government must “right these wrongs” regarding the 67 recommendations put forward by inquiry chair Sir Adrian Fulford.
Among those recommendations was one stating: “The Department for Transport should require local authorities to ensure that all licensed taxi drivers have a clear duty promptly to report any significant criminal activity they witness while working.
“This duty should form part of mandatory training, and a failure to report such activity, subject to individual circumstances, should place the driver’s licence at risk.”
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it expects to complete the implementation of this recommendation by late 2027. However, Mr Poland no longer holds a taxi licence with the local authority that covers Southport.
The phase one report identified five major failings:.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “The Southport Inquiry identified fundamental failings, across many of our public services, in the years leading up to July 2024. These devastating failures led to the senseless killing of three young girls and violent attacks on others.
“My thoughts today are first and foremost with the families and friends of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all the victims of that awful day. We owe it to them to right these wrongs.
“For that reason, we have accepted Sir Adrian’s recommendations for central government in full. My department will now drive this work across government, with the urgency it deserves.
“We will do whatever is needed to protect the public.”
The inquiry’s second phase is set to commence next week with a one-day hearing, before resuming in September of this year in London.