Girl stabbed 6 times as she shielded sister from Southport attacker

A gravely injured lady was stabbed six occasions as she shielded her little sister from the Southport attacker, a public inquiry heard.

Each sisters survived however the eldest was severely wounded in killer Axel Rudakubana’s assault on a Taylor Swift themed dance workshop on 29 July 2024.

Their mom learn an announcement to the Southport Inquiry at Liverpool City Corridor earlier the place she known as her daughters her “heroes”.

She instructed the listening to the women’ father discovered the eldest coated in blood exterior the studio and “fainted” from the shock.

Alice Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King died within the assault on Hart Avenue , whereas eight different kids and two adults have been severely wounded.

The inquiry’s first section will look at the killer’s historical past and his dealings with related businesses, together with any missed alternatives to forestall what occurred.

It has been listening to additional proof from the households of survivors concerning the day itself and its ongoing impression.

The mom of the 2 women, known as C2 and C7 to guard their anonymity like all of the surviving kids, mentioned she wished the inquiry to “discover solutions”.

Describing the second their father discovered the women within the chaotic aftermath of the assault, she mentioned he first discovered the youngest baby sheltering in a close-by home.

She mentioned she had no thought the place the eldest was, so he ran again exterior and finally noticed “two small legs protruding from behind a white van” the place the older sister was being handled.

Her mom mentioned: “Unbelievably courageous within the second, she instructed her daddy that she was okay.

“It was in that second, seeing our daughter so gravely injured, coated in blood and barely respiration that the load of all of it overwhelmed him.

“It was an excessive amount of for his physique to course of and he fainted.”

She mentioned the women had finally been in a position to describe what occurred when Rudakubana attacked the studio – with the youngest initially pondering he had come to indicate them the dance class instructor Leanne Lucas’s new pet.

After attacking different kids and Ms Lucas, the killer turned on the eldest stabbing her within the chest and arm.

He then stood over her youthful sister with the knife raised.

Their mom mentioned her eldest later instructed her: “Mum, she was crouched, she could not transfer, her face was pure concern.”

“Our eldest, only a baby herself and already injured, dragged her sister in entrance of her to guard her,” she mentioned.

“She was then stabbed one other six occasions within the again. She says she felt that like she was being repeatedly punched from the pressure.”

Each women managed to scramble free and have been handled at Alder Hey Youngsters’s Hospital.

Their mom, who says she is on medicine because the assault, mentioned: “It reached into each nook of our household and left none of us the identical.”

Earlier the dad and mom of one other lady caught up within the assault mentioned it was preventable and urged a public inquiry to “expose the failures” that allowed it to occur.

The mom of kid L mentioned the data that Rudakubana was “recognized to a number of businesses” is a “burden we supply day-after-day”.

She mentioned she hoped the inquiry would “shine a lightweight into the darkest corners of the techniques that failed”.

The mom of one other lady who was stabbed however survived the assault, known as baby C4, additionally gave proof.

She mentioned C4 now “spends her younger life scanning her environment for hazard” and that the as soon as robust bond she had together with her father is now broken as their daughter finds it “tough to belief males”.

Combating again tears, the mom instructed the inquiry group how proud she is of her daughter and that “her most interesting qualities shone by means of within the darkest of moments”.

The inquiry additionally heard from the dad and mom of kid N, who mentioned in an announcement their daughter remained the “kind-hearted, spirited, joyful lady she’s at all times been”.

They mentioned: “It’s unimaginable how she holds onto the sunshine, even after dwelling by means of a lot darkness.

“The inquiry should confront the systemic failures that allowed such a horror to unfold.”

The mom of kid R mentioned her daughter, who was bodily unhurt, “remembers all the pieces” from that day.

She mentioned she was ceaselessly crippled by anxiousness and concern, and endures terrifying nightmares and panic assaults.

The inquiry was adjourned till Wednesday.