Family of Southport victim criticise plan to reveal ethnicity of suspects

The family of Bebe King, one of the three girls killed in the Southport attack last year, have urged ministers to reconsider their support for disclosing the ethnicity of serious crime suspects, saying this information is "completely irrelevant" and that "the propensity to commit crime happens in any ethnicity, nationality or race".

- Robyn Vinter

Bebe was six when she was murdered by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, a Welsh-born black Briton from a Christian family who had lived in the local area for a number of years. In the knife attack at a dance class on 29 July 2024, he also killed Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and injured 10 others, some of whom will never fully recover physically from their injuries.

Michael Weston King, Bebe's grandfather, told the Guardian that in the aftermath of the murders the family were failed by the "despicable" actions of the far right, who "tried to make political gain from our tragedy".

He urged the government to reconsider following in the footsteps of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party on backing disclosing the race and immigration status of high-profile suspects - which became official police guidance on Wednesday, despite criticism from anti-racism campaigners and women's groups.

"This apparent kowtowing to the likes of Farage and Reform, who surely want such a policy in place, is extremely disappointing, though perhaps not surprising," Weston King said.