Threats, lies and violence: Inside the Rudakubana house where parents let 'evil go unchecked'

THE ECHO LIFTS THE LID ON WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE IN THE RUDAKUBANA HOUSEHOLD AFTER LISTENING TO EVERY MINUTE OF THE FAMILY'S INQUIRY EVIDENCE

- By PATRICK EDRICH ECHO Reporter

A court sketch of Axel Rudakubana by Elizabeth Cook

(ELIZABETH COOK/PA WIRE)

DION Rudakubana will never forget the last interaction with his brother, the teenage killer responsible for one of the most heinous attacks the UK has ever experienced.

Despite saying goodbye to his younger brother, Axel, as he left his house to go and meet friends, wheelchair user Dion was met with a brief, but vicious act of violence when a metal water bottle was launched towards his head.

He had closed the door before the bottle made contact, but his brother’s intent to hurt him was obvious.

This wasn’t a one-off act.

It was part of a sustained campaign of violence the then 17-year-old Axel perpetuated towards his parents, Alphonse Rudakubana and Laetitia Muzayire, and brother over anumber of years.

Following the water bottle incident in the summer of 2023, Dion’s contact with his brother was fleeting and amounted to hearing noises and passing each other in silence during the brief periods the older boy spent at home during the university holidays.

The brothers would not utter another word to each other before Axel left the family home in Banks, Lancashire, on July 29, 2024, for the first time in more than two years, wearing the same clothes he had worn for weeks and a face mask.

His destination? Southport's Hart Space, where a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance party was beginning to draw to a close.

Rudakubana murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, and attempted to murder 10 other people at the class.

The Southport Inquiry, set up to examine the missed opportunities to stop Rudakubana, concluded its phase one evidence on Thursday after nine weeks of evidence.

The findings will be compiled in a report in the coming months.