Southport inquiry hears how girl saved sister's life

A girl saved her younger sister's life by shielding her from the Southport attacker, Axel Rudakubana, despite being stabbed in the chest and arm, the inquiry into the atrocity heard yesterday.

- Josh Halliday

The mother of the young siblings, who were both stabbed multiple times, said they showed "a level of bravery that no child should ever need to show" on 29 July last year.

Giving evidence at Liverpool town hall, she described tearfully how her eldest daughter was stabbed in the chest and arm before the killer turned on her little sister.

She said: "Our eldest tells us that her younger sister wasn't standing or sitting, she says: 'Mum, she was crouched, she couldn't move, her face was pure fear.' Our eldest, just a child herself and already injured, dragged her sister in front of her to protect her. She was then stabbed another six times in the back. She says she felt like she was being repeatedly punched from the force."