'Together we seem to pull light out of the darkness'

Southport’s grieving families find solace in friendship

- BY DAN WARBURTON

THEY have endured a grief beyond comprehension, but the families of the Southport attack victims have revealed the extraordinary bond that has offered them solace.

The parents of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, say they feel connected to their daughters through their families’ unique friendship after the darkest of times.

The girls were murdered in Merseyside in July last year when Axel Rudakubana, then 17, went on a knife rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

Eight children and two adults were also hurt. In a new BBC documentary, Elsie’s mother Jenni Stancombe says: “We've been together in some of the most difficult conversations.

“But together, between the six of us, we always seem to pull the light out [of the darkness].” The documentary, recorded over the past nine months, shows how the three families set out to create lasting legacies in their daughters’ names as well as the opening of a new school playground in their honour.