‘It shattered our souls’: Southport victim’s parents describe ‘horror movie’ of losing daughter
The parents of a girl who was murdered in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport said her death has “shattered our souls”.
Rudakubana, 18, from Lancashire, was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 52 years, after he pleaded guilty to murdering three girls on Monday, on what was due to be the first day of his trial.
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Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed in the attack on a Taylor Swift-themed class at a small business park in the seaside town. Rudakubana also admitted 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a kitchen knife over the attack in the Merseyside town on 29 July.
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The parents of Alice da Silva Aguiar were in court as their victim impact statement was read by the prosecutor.
Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar said it was the “most tragic day of our lives”.
Alice was a “beautiful girl, perfect in every way,” who loved her school, her friends, music, dance, colourful pens and friendship bracelets.
“She loved Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter,” the statement says, adding she was “strong and confident” with “a world of dreams and unlimited potential”.
Alice, who was going to be surprised with a trip to Disneyland later in the year, woke up “really excited” to go to the dance class where she was stabbed. They say their world was “shattered and turned upside down”.
“Our life went with her. He took us too,” the statement says. “Our dream girl has been taken in such a horrible, undeserving way that it shattered our souls”.
They said they would do anything to hold their daughter one more time: “It feels like we’re stuck in a five-dimensional horror movie.”
The statement reads: “Alice was our purpose for living. So what do we do now?”
Killer is ‘beyond contempt’ says mother
A statement from the mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe was also read in court.
Jenni Stancombe calls Axel Rudakubana a “coward” and tells him that he does not deserve to hear about her daughter, who she described as the family’s “best friend”.
“We are not going to stand here and list everything you’ve taken away from us,” her statement says. “We refuse to give you the satisfaction.”
She calls the killer “beyond contempt”, and says he targeted victims who could not protect themselves.
“We were robbed of the opportunity to protect our girls,” the statement said.
Addressing the judge, she said: “He took our daughter. There’s no greater loss and no greater pain. He has left us with a lifetime of grief.”
She said she hopes Rudakubana uses his time in prison to “reflect on the gravity of what he has done” but said “if we go from his actions and behaviour during this process we have little faith that he will ever feel the remorse he should”.
“You know what you have done and we hope the weight of that knowledge haunts you every day,” her statement said.
The family of the third victim, six-year-old Bebe King, did not read a impact statement to the court.
Yoga teacher ‘lost her job’ after attack
The yoga teacher present during the attack, who was stabbed in the back, told the court she couldn’t give herself “compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died?”.
Leanne Lucas, 36, said all she wanted to do was make a “positive impact” but has now lost her job as she can no longer provide “guidance and reassurance to anyone.”
“I feel like I can no longer be trusted again,” she says. “I can never feel that level of responsibility again where there may be dangers to others.”
Ms Lucas was injured physically but says, like the surviving girls, she has “scars we cannot move on from”.
“To discover that he had always set out to hurt the vulnerable is beyond comprehensible. For Alice, Elsie, Bebe, Heidi, and the surviving girls, I’m surviving for you.”
‘You didn’t look human – you looked possessed’
The emotional father of a girl, 9, who was stabbed but survived read out a victim impact statement on behalf of the family.
He says his daughter told him: “When people in school asked me: ‘Do you wish you weren’t there that day?’ I said that, in some ways, I wish I wasn’t, but also, if I wasn’t there, someone else would have been stabbed and they could have died, so I’m glad I might have stopped someone else getting hurt’.
“These are not the words that any little girl, who just liked yoga and making bracelets, should ever need to say. Her words both horrify us and make us immeasurably proud.”
Addressing Rudakubana (who was not present) another surviving girl said: “You didn’t look human, you looked possessed.”
One father said he did not recognise his injured daughter when he went to pick her up from the class, because she had been so badly injured.
Child killer asked to leave court after shouting
On Thursday, Rudakubana had to be removed from court twice after trying to disrupt proceedings, shouting that he had chest pains and wanted to be seen by a paramedic.
“I can’t remain quiet,” he shouted, shortly before the judge asked him to leave the first time. “I haven’t eaten for ten days. I feel ill. I’m not going to remain quiet.”
He returned to court for the afternoon, but began shouting again and was removed. The judge confirmed he had been deemed fit to attend by two paramedics.
Watch a special programme from Southport on the UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee at 8pm.