The grandfather of a girl who survived being stabbed by Axel Rudakubana has called for the dismissal of all individuals who failed to recognize the grave danger Rudakubana posed.
In a strongly worded statement, he asserted that the Southport families were betrayed by the very authorities entrusted with safeguarding their daughters, both in the lead-up to and the aftermath of the July 29 attack.
He particularly criticized the lack of decisive action to address the threat posed by Rudakubana, whose fixation on violence and brutality had resulted in three referrals to the Prevent anti-extremism program.
The grandfather further criticized the authorities for failing to disclose, following Rudakubana’s arrest, that the Cardiff-born teenager had been known to counter-terrorism police and that searches of his residence after the attack uncovered deadly ricin.
He also condemned Sir Keir Starmer, accusing him of “choosing to protect himself” rather than revealing the full truth about the perpetrator at an earlier stage.
“I believe that if, instead of doubling down on discussions about the far right, he had admitted this was a terrorist incident, the outcome would have been different,” stated the grandfather, whose identity remains protected due to the anonymity granted to all surviving children.
“We were not cared for—we were cast aside. It became entirely about the riots, and what happened to us was forgotten. We were abandoned,” he added.
While Axel Rudakubana was not formally charged with committing a terrorist act due to a lack of evidence indicating ideological motivation, the Prime Minister acknowledged yesterday that “terrorism has changed.” Sir Keir Starmer suggested that the law might need to evolve to address the growing threat posed by “loners, misfits, [and] young men in their bedrooms” fixated on extreme violence.
In the wake of the attack, which claimed the lives of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, some families affected by the tragedy immediately suspected terrorism.
“Some of the families were suspicious from the start, but they were gaslit,” the grandfather told The Daily Mail. “Others believed we should trust the authorities. For all of us, there was a lot of supposition and guesswork. But when information started to surface, and we realized that everything people suspected was true, it made us question why it had been concealed.”
Rudakubana, who had been diagnosed with autism, had previously been referred to the Prevent program three times and was also receiving support from children’s social care and mental health services.
Additionally, Rudakubana was under the supervision of the youth justice service after being expelled from Range High School in Formby at the age of 13 for bringing a knife onto school grounds and subsequently assaulting fellow students with a hockey stick.
Given the involvement of multiple agencies, the grandfather asserted that the tragedy “should never have happened.” He stated:
“There were too many missed opportunities. Organizations were not communicating with one another, there was a shortage of qualified staff, and people were tiptoeing around issues of political correctness instead of addressing him directly.”
While rumors about the presence of the biological toxin ricin in Rudakubana’s bedroom began circulating in Southport shortly after the attack, the confirmation of its discovery—along with accusations that Rudakubana had downloaded an Al Qaeda training manual—was not disclosed to the public until October 29.#newsafro_
