The inquiry will examine failures leading up to the tragedy last JulyDan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter
00:01, 08 Jul 2025
Tributes laid at the end of Hart Street in Southport last year(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The Southport Inquiry hearings will begin at Liverpool Town Hall today. The inquiry was announced by the government earlier this year after Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed workshop in the town on July 29, 2024.
The inquiry will examine failures leading up to the tragedy, and look at what could have been done to prevent the murders. Sir Adrian Fulford has been appointed as the chair of the hearings, following consultation with the families of those killed and affected by the attack.
He will begin these proceedings with an opening statement today (July 8). On Wednesday (July 9), the inquiry will hear impact statements from four families whose children were injured during the attack.
Sir Adrian Fulford said: “Today, just less than a year since one of the most horrific crimes in our country’s history took place in Southport, we open the independent inquiry into the events surrounding the attack and events leading up to it.
“Tomorrow I will then begin to hear from some of the families whose children were injured on that terrible day. We will hold two days of hearings this week and then resume hearings on September 8 at Liverpool Town Hall when I will hear from more of the victims, survivors and their families.
The Inquiry will take place at Liverpool Town Hall(Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
“My focus throughout this inquiry will be a thorough and forensic investigation of all the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it.
“This will include the perpetrator’s history and interactions with all the relevant agencies, how they shared information and responded to the risks that he posed.
“I will then move into a second phase next year where I will consider the wider issues of children and young people being drawn into extreme violence.
“As Chair of this inquiry, I am committed to proceeding at pace and with rigour whilst balancing the needs of those who live with the continued trauma of what happened in Southport in July 2024.”
The inquiry will hold two days of hearings this week and will then resume again on September 8, at Liverpool Town Hall, where it will hold further commemorative and impact evidence before beginning evidential hearings on September 22.
Rachael Wong, director at Bond Turner, and the recognised legal representative for the three bereaved families Chris Walker, also of Bond Turner, said in a statement: “The Southport Inquiry has been set up to investigate a multitude of issues to gain critical insight into the tragic events of July 29, 2024.
“Crucially the chair has not only been tasked with looking into the event itself, but the history and involvement of a number of state bodies in considering what actions could have been taken to prevent the Southport attack. The second phase of this inquiry will then look into a much wider issue of violent extremism and how young people specifically are exposed and drawn in.
“Ultimately as legal representatives of the bereaved families we are committed to getting answers for them. We know that nothing the Inquiry reveals, or subsequently recommends will change the unimaginable loss felt by the families of Elsie, Alice and Bebe, but we all now have a responsibility to ensure that something like this never happens again.
“We will be doing all we can to assist the chair through the Inquiry and uncover the truth. It is only through intense public scrutiny that real change can be effected.”
Regarding the inquiry, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said previously: “The brutal murder of three young girls: Bebe (King), Elsie (Dot Stancombe) and Alice (da Silva Aguiar) in Southport was an unimaginable tragedy – we owe it to their families, and all those affected on that terrible day to quickly understand what went wrong, answer difficult questions and do everything in our power to prevent something like this from happening again.
“The Southport Inquiry will provide insights into any failings that allowed a young man with a previous history of violence, to commit this horrendous attack.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper(Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
“Sir Adrian Fulford will bring a wealth of legal and criminal justice expertise to this role, and I am pleased he has agreed to chair the Inquiry.”
The chair has a legal background, particularly looking at issues relating to policing and the criminal justice system. He is a retired Lord Justice of Appeal and former judge of the International Criminal Court.
Previously, he was the vice president of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) in and was the first Investigatory Powers Commissioner, in office between 2017 and 2019.