Parents failed in 'moral duty' to report Southport killer - inquiry

"Catastrophic" failures by the parents of the Southport killer and various agencies meant clear chances to prevent the 2024 child murders were missed, a public inquiry has concluded. Axel Rudakubana, 17, should have been detained before he walked into the Taylor Swift-themed dance class and stabbed three girls, inquiry chair Sir Adrian Fulford found. Sir Adrian said if his parents had done "what they morally ought to have" and reported his suspicious behaviour, he would not have been free on the day of the attack. But a "merry-go-round" of referrals, assessments and "hand-offs" - and his autism being used as an "excuse" for past conduct - meant no agency understood the danger he posed. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar were killed in the attack while eight other children and two adults were severely wounded. In a 760-page final report - following Phase One of the inquiry into how Rudakubana was able to carry out the attack - Sir Adrian called for the end of what he described as a "culture" of agencies passing responsibility between each other or downgrading their own involvement in cases like Rudakubana's. He described it as the "si