A teenage survivor of the Southport dance class attack has revealed the terrifying moment she first encountered killer Axel Rudakubana, describing him as looking “possessed” with eyes that showed he “wanted to kill us all.”
The 13-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was stabbed in the back and arm during the horrific attack at the Hart Space centre last July but managed to escape with her nine-year-old sister. Speaking in Channel 4’s new documentary “One Day In Southport,” she recounted the moment Rudakubana began his murderous rampage.
“He didn’t look human,” she told filmmakers. “I knew from his eyes that he wanted to kill us all as he stabbed the girl in front of me multiple times.”
Heroic Actions Saved Lives
Despite suffering life-threatening injuries that punctured her spine, the teenager demonstrated remarkable bravery by helping other children escape the carnage. She led several younger girls down the stairs to safety whilst bleeding from her wounds.
“My vision was going blurry and I ran across to this guy and I said to him: ‘I’ve been stabbed, I think I’m dying,'” she recalled. “I was struggling to breathe, and I saw my sister there and she was saying, ‘Please don’t die, please don’t die.'”
The girl had been at the Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop on 29 July to take photographs for the teacher’s social media. Among the 26 children present was her sister’s close friend, nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, who tragically lost her life alongside Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
Parents Describe Horror Scene
The documentary also features testimony from the girl’s parents, who described the nightmarish moment they realised their children were involved in the attack. The father, who rushed to the Hart Space immediately, recalled encountering scenes he will never forget.
“I saw one of the people there carrying a child in his arms,” he said. “And then as soon as I saw that I ran straight into that building and up those stairs and that’s when I was confronted with sights and smells I never want to relive.”
The mother added: “My husband phones me and says you need to get here now, the kids have been stabbed. There were just ambulances and fire engines everywhere and there was blood all over the floor and the cars.”
Killer’s Background Emerges
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of murder, ten counts of attempted murder, and possession of a bladed article. Judge Mr Justice Goose stated it was likely he would never be released.
Born in Cardiff to Rwandan Christian parents, Rudakubana had been known to authorities since 2019 due to concerning behaviour. He was referred to the government’s Prevent counter-extremism programme three times between 2019 and 2021 but was not accepted as no terrorist ideology was identified.
The documentary reveals that eight other children and two adults, including yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, 36, were treated in hospital for injuries sustained during the attack.
Riots Fuelled by Misinformation
The film explores how the appalling attacks triggered ten days of mob violence across the UK, with riots erupting in 27 towns and cities. False claims spread rapidly online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker, despite police initially refusing to name the suspect due to his age.
Ibrahim Hussein, imam of Southport mosque, described being trapped inside whilst a mob attempted to burn down the building. “The whole place was shaking and between me and them was only one PVC door. One kick and they would be inside,” he said.
“The police tried to hold them back but smoke was coming through and it was soon covering the whole office. I had young lads in here, with young families, and some of them broke down and were crying.”
Class Tensions Exposed
The documentary features interviews with some of those involved in the demonstrations, who claim the protests were driven by class grievances rather than purely racial motivations. Dean Neil, a political activist and bricklayer, stated: “If you’re white, straight and working-class, you’re getting hammered.
However, shocking footage shows violent mobs attacking migrant hotels across the country. In Rotherham, asylum seeker Murad found himself under attack as thugs threw bricks and set fires. “It’s both wonderful and awful in England. You look after us but you hate us,” he said.
Harry Jackson, a call centre worker from Hull where Romanian cousins were dragged from their car, told filmmakers: “England is a white Christian English nation and I think it should stay that way. I don’t think it’s controversial or racist to say that.”
Expert Warnings
Weyman Bennett, secretary of Stand Up To Racism, warned that the riots demonstrated a dangerous shift in extremist mobilisation. “People are rightfully angry but they’re blaming the wrong people. Immigration is used as an explanation for everything,” he said.
“This time they involved a periphery of angry people who were not fascists. There’s a populist feeling that ‘no-one’s listening to us’ and actually the far-right could end up being the cheerleaders of that, and that’s the danger.”
Following the riots, police made 1,800 arrests with sentences now totalling more than 1,000 years. The swift judicial response included jailing Andrew McIntyre, who started the “Southport Wake Up” Telegram group, for seven and a half years.
Lasting Impact on Survivors
The teenage survivor continues to live with severe physical and psychological consequences. She requires a special chair at school to ease pain from her scars and must take time out of lessons when suffering debilitating flashbacks.
Despite her trauma, she condemns those who used the attack to justify violence. Her mother firmly rejected any politicisation of the tragedy, saying: “I choose not to make that a reason. At the time we didn’t feel any anger, we just wanted to hold everyone close and dear and just wanted to feel love and compassion, nothing more.”
The girl expressed pride in the children who escaped, saying: “I saw some of the girls huddling round the stairs looking like they didn’t know what to do, so I started screaming at them to run and get themselves down the stairs. They got themselves out of the building and I am so proud of every single one of them.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has since announced a public inquiry into the attack and promised to overhaul terrorism laws to address what he called a “new threat” from “loners and misfits” radicalised online but lacking clear ideological motivation.
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