'I'll never forget the screaming': How the people of Southport are trying to make sense of horror
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The pink ribbons on the front gates and signposts of Hart Street in Southport are faded now. Warning: This article contains content some readers might find distressing. Placed there in that wave of grief and shock, they are now one of the last visual reminders of what happened on 29 July.
One of the others: many of the doorbell cameras are still missing from their backplates. Cameras that recorded the horror on their doorsteps were taken away to provide the evidence. The attack that took the lives of Alice Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King and injured others, has left an indelible mark on an unremarkable street in a genteel seaside resort.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, from Lancashire, pleaded guilty to their murders at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday. He has also admitted 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a kitchen knife over the attack. He further pleaded guilty to charges of producing ricin and possessing an al Qaeda training manual allegedly found in searches of his home in Banks, Lancashire, in the following days.
He is due to be sentenced on Thursday. The vivid colours of the summer have given way to the harsh cold of winter on Hart Street. But if the physical reminders of that day are disappearing, the emotional scars are borne by everyone you talk to. "I'm still in shock," said Briony. "I don't think I've completely processed it yet. I know a lot of people are definitely still in shock as well because it was in front of them that it happened.".
