Latest news with #Rudakubana
The Irish Sun
9 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
I couldn't breathe & felt I was dying after Southport killer knifed my spine… I knew from his eyes he wanted to kill us
A TEENAGE survivor of Axel Rudakubana's murderous rampage in a Southport dance class has described the moment she first saw the killer - saying he looked 'possessed'. The girl, who was 13 at the time, said he 'didn't look human' and that she knew from his eyes that he 'wanted to kill us all' as he stabbed the girl in front of her multiple times. 14 Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar (left to right) were brutally murdered during a Taylor Swift themed dance class Credit: AFP 14 Axel Rudakubana was 17 years old when he murdered three little girls 14 Rudakubana received a 52-year sentence in January Credit: PA She was stabbed in the back and the arm, but managed to escape the room in the Hart Space centre along with her nine-year-old sister. She told the new Channel 4 documentary One Day In Southport: 'My vision was going blurry and I ran across to this guy and I said to him: 'I've been stabbed, I think I'm dying.' 'I was struggling to breathe, and I saw my sister there and she was saying, 'Please don't die, please don't die'.' The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was at the READ MORE FEATURES Most of the other attendees were girls aged six to 10, including her sister's close friend, Tragically, Eight more children and two adults - including The girl's parents also speak in the documentary, and describe the horrific moment they realised their children had been involved in the attack. Most read in The Sun The father, who rushed straight to the Hart Space, recalled: 'I saw one of the people there carrying a child in his arms. "And then as soon as I saw that I ran straight into that building and up those stairs and that's when I was confronted with sights and smells I never want to relive.' The mother added: 'My husband phones me and says you need to get here now, the kids have been stabbed. Southport fiend Axel Rudakubana hurled scalding water over prison guard in 'terrifying' attack putting victim in hospital 14 Members of the community, family and friends blew bubbles as people gathered to mourn victims of the Southport attack at a vigil Credit: Getty 14 Police found weapons in Rudakubana's home after he attacked children at The Hart Space in Southport Credit: PA "There were just ambulances and fire engines everywhere and there was blood all over the floor and the cars. "I didn't want to look, I didn't want to know it was my child.' Her father described it looking like 'her muscles had been turned inside out'. But the girl had also saved the lives of some of the other children, by leading them down the stairs to safety. She said: 'I saw some of the girls huddling round the stairs looking like they didn't know what to do, so I started screaming at them to run and get themselves down the stairs. "They got themselves out of the building and I am so proud of every single one of them.' I was struggling to breathe, and I saw my sister there and she was saying, 'please don't die, please don't die' Southport Survivor The documentary also explores how the appalling attacks triggered With the police initially refusing to name the attacker, online speculation filled the vacuum and falsely identified the killer as a Muslim and an illegal immigrant. A raging mob attempted to burn down Ibrahim Hussein, imam of the mosque, described being trapped inside while thugs threw missiles and set the building on fire. He said: 'The whole place was shaking and between me and them was only one PVC door. One kick and they would be inside. 'The police tried to hold them back but smoke was coming through and it was soon covering the whole office. "I had young lads in here, with young families, and some of them broke down and were crying.' The mosque had absolutely no connection to the killer. The imam added: 'Obviously we were just as devastated as anybody else [by the attacks] because in the Muslim community family is everything. But social media took over.' 'Pressure cooker' 14 Appalling attacks triggered ten days of mob violence across the UK Credit: Getty Images 14 Ibrahim Hussein described being trapped inside Southport mosque while thugs threw missiles and set the building on fire Credit: PA Wire 14 A raging mob attempted to burn down Southport mosque Credit: James Glossop When the killer was named as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, a Cardiff-born son of Rwandan Christian parents, it did nothing to stem the anger and violence that was now spreading across the country. The documentary shows shocking footage from the 27 towns and cities where riots erupted, with mobs attacking migrant hotels, fighting running battles with police and in Middlesborough, indiscriminately smashing windows. But some of those involved in the demonstrations tell the documentary it was not about race. Dean Neil, a bearded political activist and bricklayer, claimed: 'If you're white, straight and working-class, you're getting hammered'. He said at the first demonstration in central London, he was surrounded by 'people you expect to see in Marks and Spencer doing their shopping'. Wendell Daniel, who is black and works as a videographer for the Far Right leader Tommy Robinson, agrees the main flash point is class. He said: 'It was a pressure cooker that was building and building and it was ready to explode. "Then when Southport happened, boom. I have never seen people so angry.' However, the film shows some of the most shocking violence directed at migrant hotels. Harry Jackson, a call centre worker and YouTuber from Hull, where the Royal Hotel which houses asylum seekers was attacked, said: 'England is a white Christian English nation and I think it should stay that way. It was a pressure cooker that was building and building and it was ready to explode. Then when Southport happened, boom. I have never seen people so angry Wendell Daniel "I don't think it's controversial or racist to say that. The only way for the English people to take back control of their government and economy… is by force.' Shocking footage shows a huge mob in the town attempting to drag a group of Romanian cousins from their car to beat them up. One of the Romanians tells the documentary he thought he was going to be killed. He added: 'Foreigners come to work and mind their business, people who are from this country, destroy it.' Murad, an asylum seeker from central Asia, found himself under attack at a migrant hotel in Rotherham where thugs threw bricks at the windows, stormed the corridors and set fires. He said: 'It's both wonderful and awful in England. You look after us but you hate us.' In the aftermath of the riots police made 1,800 arrests and rioters sentences now total more than 1,000 hours. But Weyman Bennett, secretary of campaigning organisation Stand Up To Racism and a veteran of three decades of anti-fascist street protests, says that the riots demonstrated a dangerously widespread dissatisfaction. He said: 'People are rightfully angry but they're blaming the wrong people. Immigration is used as an explanation for everything.' Weyman also believes that we're seeing a tidal shift in politics and the kinds of people who attend 'far right' rallies. He said: "This time they involved a periphery of angry people who were not fascists. "There's a populist feeling that 'no-one's listening to us' and actually the far-right could end up being the cheerleaders of that, and that's the danger.' Lasting impact The teenage survivor and her family tell the documentary they reject the politicisation of the Southport attacks. Asked whether it bothers her that the person who attacked her daughter was the son of immigrants, the mother said: 'I choose not to make that a reason. There were just ambulances and fire engines everywhere and there was blood all over the floor and the cars. I didn't want to look, I didn't want to know it was my child Mother of Southport Survivor "At the time we didn't feel any anger, we just wanted to hold everyone close and dear and just wanted to feel love and compassion, nothing more.' The girl says she is still living with the consequences of being stabbed, having to use a special chair at school to ease the pain on her scars and taking time out of lessons when she suffers debilitating flashbacks. But she condemns the violence of protesters who claimed to be acting in the name of the Southport victims. She said: 'I didn't think the rioting needed to happen. It didn't represent me at all.' One Day in Southport airs on Channel 4 tomorrow (Thursday 24 July) at 9pm. 14 Elsie Dot Stancombe was a devoted 'Swiftie' who loved to dance Credit: PA Wire 14 Alice da Silva Aguiar died from her injuries in hospital a day after the attack Credit: PA 14 Bebe King was the youngest girl killed by Rudakubana Credit: AP 14 The sea of floral tributes to the tragic victims on Maple Street, Southport Credit: PA Wire 14 The horse-drawn hearse outside a celebration of Elsie Dot Stancombe at St John's Church, In August, 2024 Credit: Getty Images 14 A handout image released by Merseyside Police shows a replica of the knife used in the attack by Rudakubana Credit: Getty Images
Powys County Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Powys County Times
Law will change to stop attackers fixated on violence, says Home Secretary
Yvette Cooper has pledged to change the law to treat people fixated on violence as seriously as terrorists in the wake of last year's Southport attack. The Home Secretary said she would address a 'gap in the law' against planning mass casualty attacks that had no ideological basis, but could be 'just as serious' as terrorism in their impact. She said: 'We have to make sure that the system is able to respond to violent fixated individuals. We will tighten that legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' Her commitment, first made in an interview with the BBC, would implement a recommendation from the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, who examined whether terror laws needed to be changed to deal with people such as Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana. The review was prompted by revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism Prevent programme, but his case had not been followed up as he lacked an ideological motivation. He went on to murder three young girls and seriously wound 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year and is currently serving a life sentence. Mr Hall's review recommended against widening the definition of terrorism to include individuals such as Rudakubana, but suggested creating a new offence to deal with people who plan mass casualty attacks motivated by personal grievance or an obsession with violence for its own sake. Ms Cooper said there was now a 'pattern' of teenagers being 'drawn into extreme violence and extreme ideologies' in their own bedrooms thanks to 'a really distorted and warped online world'. She said: 'The sorts of things that we're now increasingly seeing online with violent fixated individuals, where there may not be a clear ideology, it may be a fixation with violence, or they may switch between different ideologies.'
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Politics
- Leader Live
Law will change to stop attackers fixated on violence, says Home Secretary
The Home Secretary said she would address a 'gap in the law' against planning mass casualty attacks that had no ideological basis, but could be 'just as serious' as terrorism in their impact. She said: 'We have to make sure that the system is able to respond to violent fixated individuals. We will tighten that legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' Her commitment, first made in an interview with the BBC, would implement a recommendation from the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, who examined whether terror laws needed to be changed to deal with people such as Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana. The review was prompted by revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism Prevent programme, but his case had not been followed up as he lacked an ideological motivation. He went on to murder three young girls and seriously wound 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year and is currently serving a life sentence. Mr Hall's review recommended against widening the definition of terrorism to include individuals such as Rudakubana, but suggested creating a new offence to deal with people who plan mass casualty attacks motivated by personal grievance or an obsession with violence for its own sake. Ms Cooper said there was now a 'pattern' of teenagers being 'drawn into extreme violence and extreme ideologies' in their own bedrooms thanks to 'a really distorted and warped online world'. She said: 'The sorts of things that we're now increasingly seeing online with violent fixated individuals, where there may not be a clear ideology, it may be a fixation with violence, or they may switch between different ideologies.'
North Wales Chronicle
3 days ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Law will change to stop attackers fixated on violence, says Home Secretary
The Home Secretary said she would address a 'gap in the law' against planning mass casualty attacks that had no ideological basis, but could be 'just as serious' as terrorism in their impact. She said: 'We have to make sure that the system is able to respond to violent fixated individuals. We will tighten that legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' Her commitment, first made in an interview with the BBC, would implement a recommendation from the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, who examined whether terror laws needed to be changed to deal with people such as Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana. The review was prompted by revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism Prevent programme, but his case had not been followed up as he lacked an ideological motivation. He went on to murder three young girls and seriously wound 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year and is currently serving a life sentence. Mr Hall's review recommended against widening the definition of terrorism to include individuals such as Rudakubana, but suggested creating a new offence to deal with people who plan mass casualty attacks motivated by personal grievance or an obsession with violence for its own sake. Ms Cooper said there was now a 'pattern' of teenagers being 'drawn into extreme violence and extreme ideologies' in their own bedrooms thanks to 'a really distorted and warped online world'. She said: 'The sorts of things that we're now increasingly seeing online with violent fixated individuals, where there may not be a clear ideology, it may be a fixation with violence, or they may switch between different ideologies.'
Rhyl Journal
3 days ago
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
Law will change to stop attackers fixated on violence, says Home Secretary
The Home Secretary said she would address a 'gap in the law' against planning mass casualty attacks that had no ideological basis, but could be 'just as serious' as terrorism in their impact. She said: 'We have to make sure that the system is able to respond to violent fixated individuals. We will tighten that legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.' Her commitment, first made in an interview with the BBC, would implement a recommendation from the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, who examined whether terror laws needed to be changed to deal with people such as Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana. The review was prompted by revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-extremism Prevent programme, but his case had not been followed up as he lacked an ideological motivation. He went on to murder three young girls and seriously wound 10 other people at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year and is currently serving a life sentence. Mr Hall's review recommended against widening the definition of terrorism to include individuals such as Rudakubana, but suggested creating a new offence to deal with people who plan mass casualty attacks motivated by personal grievance or an obsession with violence for its own sake. Ms Cooper said there was now a 'pattern' of teenagers being 'drawn into extreme violence and extreme ideologies' in their own bedrooms thanks to 'a really distorted and warped online world'. She said: 'The sorts of things that we're now increasingly seeing online with violent fixated individuals, where there may not be a clear ideology, it may be a fixation with violence, or they may switch between different ideologies.'
