The Southport Inquiry report was published on Monday. It found the attack could have been prevented. It also found that if Axel Rudakubana’s parents had done what they morally ought to have done, their son would not have been at liberty to conduct his attack on 26 children.
Alphonse Rudakubana took possession of one of the chef’s knives that was used by his son to brutally murder Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar on the 29th of July 2024 in Southport, Britain. When is Alphonse Rudakubana going to be charged with a criminal offence?
The question of legal responsibility remains. It should at least be put to a jury as to whether Alphonse Rudakubana is criminally responsible for his son’s murderous rampage.
The other question is, when are we getting the Netflix drama about the Rudakubana family? The tense drama on how the mother and father hid the growing dangers their son posed to the public from authorities. How they always took his side in disputes with schools and local authorities. How they left him to view extremely violent material online for years?
Will Netflix commission the show, a bit like Adolescence, that depicts how Alphonse Rudakubana did nothing to prevent his son from carrying out this attack, even though a few weeks before July 2024 he stopped him from carrying out an attack on his old school? What episode will feature the realistic depiction that the father took possession of weapons that were delivered to the house, including one of the knives later used to kill those little girls?
What episode will show how on the 29th July 2024 he did nothing when Axel Rudakubana left the family home he never left other than for violent intent, even though Alphonse Rudakubana knew in his heart of hearts it was to attack someone. He didn’t raise the alarm. He never called the police. When is the screenplay for that being written?
If you suffer from high blood pressure, stress or just anger management issues then don’t read the Southport report, phase 1. It is here and here. It describes the litany of failures by the public authorities that directly contributed to the murder of those girls. No one took responsibility. No one said, enough, Alex Rudakubana is in danger and should be taken into care. If only AR had tweeted something against the trans community then the police would have come knocking. When the police found him on a bus with a knife which he said he wanted to use, they didn’t even arrest him.
But then – and this is their only defence – the authorities were hampered by the fact that Alphonse Rudakubana shielded his son and never informed authorities of the delivery of seeds to neighbours (used to make ricin) and other weapons to his family home. The job was very difficult with the father imposing zero control on his son who spent hours online watching ultra-violent material.
Few will forget where they were when they learned of the Southport attack. I was away with my two of my children. My other daughter was at home in Ireland and was the same age and school year as the three girls. The state primary schools in England had just broken up for the summer, finally. All these girls who were attacked wanted to do was have some fun at a “Taylor Swift themed dance club.”
Instead they were set upon by Axel Rudakubana, who had targeted them because they were young and vulnerable. The sentencing judge commented at the time, “he would have killed them all if he could.”
Rewind a few weeks before this horrific attack. When these girls were being cared for by their families Alphonse Rudakubana took delivery of a chef’s knife by way of an Amazon delivery of a ‘bladed article.” He already knew that a machete had been delivered to the house and the family had to move the knives such was the risk their dangerous son posed to the family.
This is what you are dealing with these days. You as a mother or father do everything you can to raise your children to be decent human beings, to protect them from all the risks, but there is another parent out there shielding his son who grows more dangerous, evil and determined by the day.
The inquiry Sir Adrian Fulford found:
Alphonse R knew there were deliveries of seeds to a neighbour’s house, made by his son. He knew and took delivery of knives. He stopped his son carrying out an attack on Range High School but never called the authorities. The father knew, when his son left the house on the 29th of July 2024, that could have been to carry out a serious attack on innocent people. He didn’t raise the alarm. He did nothing.
From the report: “R’s parents knew that he had ordered at least one large knife. They knew that on 22 July 2024 he had planned to attack Range High School and believed that he had a knife. They then saw that he had other weapons hidden in his room and a suspicious substance. They saw at least one empty knife package when AR had left the house on the day of the attack. They reported none of this.”
In my opinion, Alphonse Rudakubana should be charged with terrorism offences which are broad and gross negligence manslaughter. I believe there is a reasonable prospect of conviction when it comes to the offence of gross negligence manslaughter, the elements of the offence set out here. The defence no doubt would be that the father did not owe a duty of care to the families of these murdered girls, and surviving girls who must live with the trauma of this attack for the rest of their lives. Let Alphonse Rudakubana explain himself to a jury. The CPS should lay the charge.
The account of Elsie Dot Stancombe and the devastation her death has caused to her family is at page 76. The account of Alice da Silva Aguiar and her family is at page 78. The account of Bebe King and her family’s loss is at page 80. The survivors and their struggles follow.
The Southport attack could have been prevented. Enough is enough.