Brother of Southport killer asks if officials could have stopped knife rampage

The brother of the Southport killer has spoken publicly for the first time about the pain caused by his sibling’s attack and urged a public inquiry to consider whether authorities could have intervened to prevent the slaughter. Dion Rudakubana, 21, who uses a wheelchair, submitted a written statement through his lawyer, Jacqueline Carey KC, saying he wanted agencies such as social services and child and adolescent mental health services (CAHMS) to explore potential interventions in the run-up to the incident. The statement was read to the inquiry chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford at Liverpool Town Hall, with Dion signaling his intention to follow the proceedings remotely due to his disability. He stressed that his aim was not to apportion blame but to help identify lessons that could minimise the risk of similar harm in the future.

The inquiry is examining how Rudakubana, known to the hearings as AR, was able to carry out what Sir Adrian Fulford has called one of the most egregious crimes in the country’s history. On July 29, 2024, at a Taylor Swift–themed holiday club in Southport, three children were killed and two others were injured by the then 17-year-old Rudakubana, who later admitted murder. He received a minimum sentence of 52 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in January. The victims were Bebe King, 6; Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7; and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9.

In his written statement, Dion’s lawyer said he had been “wholly unlike” his brother, describing him as a thoughtful university student pursuing a mathematics degree at Warwick University who lived away from the family home in Banks, near Southport. He had limited interaction with his brother in the years before the attack, as he was studying, but he returned the weekend prior to the incident and provided a full account to police about AR’s character and behavior during the years preceding the crime. Carey said Dion wanted to help the inquiry because his brother’s actions had caused “the most immense pain, anguish and grief” to many people. She noted that, although he would not attend hearings in person because of his disability, he would monitor the proceedings remotely and did not intend any discourtesy to the chair, core participants or witnesses.

The inquiry has heard that Rudakubana’s problems began when he was expelled from The Range High School in Formby in October 2019 after admitting he had brought a knife onto school premises on at least ten occasions. He later returned to the school two months after the expulsion and attacked a fellow pupil with a hockey stick. He was moved to a special school and was referred to Prevent, the government’s counter-extremism program, on three occasions because of his consumption of violent online material. The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted his education; attendance deteriorated and, by the time of the attack, he had not attended classes for about 30 months.

The inquiry has also heard concerns about Rudakubana’s family background. His Rwanda-born parents were reported to have signed for knives and machetes that their son allegedly ordered online. Psychiatrists raised concerns about his father, Alphonse, 49, described as intimidating, and social workers observed tension during home visits. Mental health professionals conducted a risk assessment of Rudakubana on July 23 last year, six days before the killings, marking the third such assessment in four years; the findings of that assessment have not been disclosed. The inquiry continues to gather evidence as it seeks to understand how such harm could be prevented in the future.