Moral and systemic failures allowed Southport murders: There must be a turning point
“It could have been, and it should have been, prevented.”
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Southport Lead.
This week saw the publication of the findings of the first phase of The Southport Inquiry, the process which was set up to examine how an attack which took the lives of three young girls was able to happen and to find ways to prevent a repeat.
For those who’ve followed the evidence given throughout the public hearings, individual aspects of the findings may not come as a shock but to see them laid out in black and white in stark. Inquiry chair Sir Adrian Fulford found so many failures and missed opportunities that he did not even put a number on them.
The simple fact is that Alice, Elsie, Bebe and all the other victims of the attack were failed. They were failed by multiple agencies who did not take the warning signs seriously enough, did not show enough curiosity, did not work together, and did not do enough to ensure that the killer’s threat was identified and addressed. The killer’s parents were also singled out for failing their moral duties by not reporting their son’s alarming and escalating behaviour.
Today’s newsletter focuses not just on those findings but one of key message which has come from many of those close to the attack - that listening is not enough and change must happen.
Southport briefing
🛤️ Work has begun on a long overdue project to improve the interior of Southport’s train station. The building’s owners, along with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, this week began a major project to repair and redecorate the area of shops which link the station to Chapel Street. Work is expected to be complete by the time The Open takes place at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in July and drawings of the plans show a newly laid floor and improved lighting. A spokesperson for the project said: “Station Approach is a vital link between Southport Station and Chapel Street, and this project represents an important investment in the town’s future. By working closely with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, we are delivering investment that will benefit local businesses while ensuring Southport is ready to welcome visitors ahead of the Open Championship this summer.”
🏥 Lancashire councillors are again challenging NHS bosses over plans to move children’s accident and emergency care from Ormskirk General Hospital to Southport. The £33m plan was approved by health chiefs last week and will see a new department built at Southport along with a multi-storey car park but those in West Lancashire remain defiant in their opposition. Cllr Adrian Owens, who observed each meeting which discussed the matter, will raise a motion at tonight’s West Lancashire Borough Council meeting which expresses concern at various elements of the process and instructs a high-ranking council officer to request these be reviewed in a local resolution process.
🎤 A new arts and live music venue will open in the town centre this summer. Named the Warehouse Arts Centre, the venue will be spread across four floors in the West Street building which once housed a restaurant of the same name and is designed to give a platform and opportunities to the next generation of artists. The project is being carried out by Ella, Spud and Yvette Cooper, owners of Cooper’s Bar on Leicester Street, working alongside Andrew Portersmith MBE and Stephanie Portersmith of the not-for-profit organisation Music Stuff, and a dedicated team from Tides Out Studios. As well as a space for music gigs, there will be an art gallery which can be hired for free; a recording studio; an arts and crafts shop; space for classes; and wellbeing and yoga events. The owners said: “There is nothing else like this in the whole area, and so many talented musicians, artists, and creatives in Southport who are looking forward to what we’re building. We need to put Southport back on the map as the cultural centre for the North West, where things are going on all the time and we’re attracting people into our town from all over.
Agencies told ‘take action now, not tomorrow’ as inquiry exposes countless failings
By Jamie Lopez
From schools and social services to police, Prevent and the killer’s parents, almost everyone who dealt with Axel Rudakubana missed opportunities to identify, address or intervene is his escalating and terrifying behaviour.
Those missed opportunities comprise a significant amount of the findings of Phase One of the Southport Inquiry. There are so many that its chair, Sir Adrian Fulford, did not even give a numbered list of the dozens of missed opportunities in the years between the killer first being reported to the national anti-terror agency and committing his heinous crimes in July 2024.
The words fail, failed, failing and failure appear almost 300 times across Sir Adrian’s 700 page report outlining his findings and recommendations from a year spent examining how the teenager was able to carry out the attack which took the lives of three young girls and injured and traumatised many more.
Prevent failed to take him seriously due to an apparent lack of clear ideology; his family allowed weapons to be delivered to his home and withheld information; agencies failed to take sole responsibility or share information with each other; his behaviour was linked to, and seemingly excused by, his autism and therefore not properly addressed; and his deeply disturbing online activities were not examined.
These are just a few of the themes of the damning report.
Speaking as it was published, Sir Adrian said: “Putting out of mind, the so called benefits of hindsight, I have no doubt that if appropriate procedures had been in place, and if sensible steps had been taken by the agencies and AR’s parents, this dreadful event would not have happened.
“It could have been, and it should have been, prevented.”
Along with 67 detailed recommendations for what should change to avoid another atrocity like the one which occurred at the Hart Space two years ago, Sir Adrian issued a warning that, unlike after similar previous inquiries, action must be taken and must be evidenced.
“A consistent concern raised by the victims of the attack has been that recommendations from past reviews and inquiries have not led to meaningful change. It is therefore essential that they are informed, in concrete terms, of the action to be taken in response to the Phase 1 recommendations.”
Sir Adrian Fulford, chair of The Southport Inquiry
A similar message was delivered by the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie who have made it a clear mission that changes are made to prevent any other family suffering the same loss as them.
The families’ lawyer Chris Walker, of Bond Turner, said on their behalf: “For our families, this has always been about honouring their girls and ensuring no one else endures what they face every day. Their participation in the inquiry took immense courage, and seeing the extent of the failures in black and white is devastating.
“On behalf of our clients we welcome the report’s clear, though deeply distressing, findings on the profound systemic failures and individual failures, that preceded this attack and the responsibility borne by AR’s parents.
