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| Southport killer’s brother asks whether attack could have been prevented | Southport killer’s brother asks whether attack could have been prevented |
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| Dion Rudakubana tells inquiry his younger brother, Axel, became ‘progressively more isolated’ after school expulsion | |
| The brother of the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has asked a public inquiry to determine whether officials could have stopped his sibling causing “the most immense pain, anguish and grief”. | The brother of the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has asked a public inquiry to determine whether officials could have stopped his sibling causing “the most immense pain, anguish and grief”. |
| In his first public comments since the attack last July, Dion Rudakubana said his younger brother had become “progressively more isolated” after being expelled from school in October 2019. | In his first public comments since the attack last July, Dion Rudakubana said his younger brother had become “progressively more isolated” after being expelled from school in October 2019. |
| In a written statement to the Southport inquiry, he asked the chair, Sir Adrian Fulford, to explore “whether more could have been done” by social services and other agencies to prevent the atrocity. | In a written statement to the Southport inquiry, he asked the chair, Sir Adrian Fulford, to explore “whether more could have been done” by social services and other agencies to prevent the atrocity. |
| His legal team said in the document: “To this end, Dion wholeheartedly supports the inquiry’s aim to identify lessons which will minimise the prospect of such harm being caused in the future.” | His legal team said in the document: “To this end, Dion wholeheartedly supports the inquiry’s aim to identify lessons which will minimise the prospect of such harm being caused in the future.” |
| The inquiry is examining how such a troubled teenager with a known obsession with knives and extreme violence – who was referred three times to the counter-radicalisation scheme Prevent – was able to carry out what Fulford called “one of the most egregious crimes in our country’s history”. | The inquiry is examining how such a troubled teenager with a known obsession with knives and extreme violence – who was referred three times to the counter-radicalisation scheme Prevent – was able to carry out what Fulford called “one of the most egregious crimes in our country’s history”. |
| At the time of the attack on 29 July last year, Dion Rudakubana was studying mathematics at the University of Warwick, where he helped lead its opera and brass societies. | At the time of the attack on 29 July last year, Dion Rudakubana was studying mathematics at the University of Warwick, where he helped lead its opera and brass societies. |
| In a witness statement published by the inquiry on Wednesday, Dion Rudakubana said he had “limited interaction” with his younger brother in the years before the mass stabbing owing to his studies and because he is a wheelchair user. | In a witness statement published by the inquiry on Wednesday, Dion Rudakubana said he had “limited interaction” with his younger brother in the years before the mass stabbing owing to his studies and because he is a wheelchair user. |
| He said he wanted to help Fulford, a retired senior judge, because his brother’s actions “have caused the most immense pain, anguish and grief to the lives of so many people”. | He said he wanted to help Fulford, a retired senior judge, because his brother’s actions “have caused the most immense pain, anguish and grief to the lives of so many people”. |
| His lawyers said Axel Rudakubana’s expulsion from school in October 2019 for carrying a knife and attacking a student “plays an important part in [him] becoming progressively more isolated from his friends and family”. | His lawyers said Axel Rudakubana’s expulsion from school in October 2019 for carrying a knife and attacking a student “plays an important part in [him] becoming progressively more isolated from his friends and family”. |
| The older brother said he had returned from university for the weekend and was at the family home in the village of Banks, Lancashire on the day of the attack. | The older brother said he had returned from university for the weekend and was at the family home in the village of Banks, Lancashire on the day of the attack. |
| The witness statement said Dion Rudakubana had told police “as best he could” what his brother was like in the days before the then 17-year-old stabbed 11 young girls, three fatally, and two adults at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday workshop. | The witness statement said Dion Rudakubana had told police “as best he could” what his brother was like in the days before the then 17-year-old stabbed 11 young girls, three fatally, and two adults at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday workshop. |
| The older brother is described as “wholly unlike his brother – a thoughtful young man, of good character, studying at university” and that much of Axel Rudakubana’s deterioration happened at a time “when Dion himself was still a child”. | The older brother is described as “wholly unlike his brother – a thoughtful young man, of good character, studying at university” and that much of Axel Rudakubana’s deterioration happened at a time “when Dion himself was still a child”. |
| It added: “Dion, like many others, wishes the inquiry to explore whether more could have been done by those agencies to try and assist [Rudakubana] and/or whether they could have intervened in such a way as to have minimised the prospect of the attacks … occurring.” | It added: “Dion, like many others, wishes the inquiry to explore whether more could have been done by those agencies to try and assist [Rudakubana] and/or whether they could have intervened in such a way as to have minimised the prospect of the attacks … occurring.” |
| The parents of the three murdered girls – seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine – spoke earlier this week of the enduring trauma of their loss. | The parents of the three murdered girls – seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine – spoke earlier this week of the enduring trauma of their loss. |
| The inquiry at Liverpool town hall is due to conclude in November, with a report to the government expected in the following months. | The inquiry at Liverpool town hall is due to conclude in November, with a report to the government expected in the following months. |