Parents of Southport murder victims share ‘permanent numbness’ after ‘pure evil’
Share:
The parents of two of the girls killed by Axel Rudakubana have described being in “a state of permanent numbness” and facing a “lifetime of grief” after an act of “pure evil”. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died when Rudakubana attacked a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Hart Space on a small business park in Southport shortly before midday on July 29 last year.
The 18-year-old also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Victim impact statements from Alice’s and Elsie’s families were read to Liverpool Crown Court ahead of Rudakubana’s sentencing on Thursday.
Elsie’s mother, Jenny Stancombe, described the attack as “the act of a coward” and said Rudakubana was “cruel and pure evil”. In her statement, read to the court by prosecutor Deanna Heer KC, she said: “The nature of your actions is beyond contempt.
“You deliberately chose that place, fully aware that there would be no parents present, fully aware that those girls were vulnerable and unable to protect themselves. “This was not an act of impulse, it was premeditated.”. Ms Stancombe said the attack had “stolen” her daughter from her but that it would “not take away our determination to honour her memory”.
.png?width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75)