On the 29 July 2024, Axel Rudakubana carried out a knife attack at a children’s dance club in Southport. He murdered 3 young girls, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, and injured 10 other people. Sixteen others survived the attack but live with the serious emotional scars.
The Southport Inquiry has been set up to examine the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it. This will include examining an overall timeline of the perpetrator’s history and interactions with various public bodies including criminal justice, education, social care, and healthcare, as well as decision-making and information-sharing by local services and agencies.
The Inquiry began formally on 7 April 2025 when the Home Secretary issued the Terms of Reference.