‘Mercilessly calculated’

Southport killings public inquiry opens

- Chris Riches

THE murder of three girls in Southport was a “mercilessly calculated” killing spree and one of the worst crimes in UK history, the public inquiry chairman said yesterday.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town in July last year.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, left eight other children, and class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes seriously injured.

In January he was jailed for a minimum of 52 years. Yesterday the public inquiry into how the attacks came to happen was opened at Liverpool Town Hall with a statement from chairman Sir Adrian Fulford.

The hearing will examine why the police, courts, NHS and social services, who all had contact with the killer, failed to identify the risk he posed.