Southport knife attack: Taxi driver testifies at public inquiry, says panic led him to drive away

An inquiry into the Southport knife attack heard that the taxi driver who ferried the attacker to the Taylor Swift-themed dance class said he panicked and sped away, fearing a gunman was on the loose. Three girls were killed and ten others were injured in the July 29 attack. Axel Rudakubana, then 17, admitted murder at Liverpool Crown Court earlier this year. The public inquiry, staged at Liverpool Town Hall, is examining the sequence of events and whether precautions or actions by bystanders or service workers could have altered the outcome.

Gary Poland, 56, testified via video link that he collected Rudakubana from his home in Banks, a village about five miles from Southport, around 11:30 a.m. Rudakubana booked the ride under the alias Simon and wore a Covid-style face mask and a distinctive green hoodie with the hood up. Poland, a cab driver for 27 years, said Rudakubana spoke little during the 14-minute journey to the Hart Space, adjacent to the dance studio where the killings occurred.

Outside the studio, Rudakubana got out without paying. Poland remonstrated, but the rider walked into the studio and the attack began inside. Dashcam audio captured distress about 29 seconds later, the inquiry heard. Poland told the inquiry he was in complete shock and drove away because he believed Rudakubana might have a gun and would shoot him the moment he drove off. He said he later called his best mate and took another fare before finally contacting emergency services roughly 50 minutes after the taxi left the scene. He described his actions as driven by fear and said, with hindsight, he wished he had stopped to help the victims.

I did what I did through fear, shock and panic, he told the inquiry. These are human emotions which I couldn't control. I regret not helping the children; their screams were harrowing. I cannot imagine what the victims and their families have been through, and there is not a day that passes that I do not think about that day and the what-ifs, he added. He stressed that he believed his actions, given the circumstances, were fit and proper, even as he acknowledged the tragedy should never have happened.

The families of the murdered girls have told the inquiry that it must assess whether Poland had a moral responsibility to take protective action, including dialing 999, during the ride. Their lawyer argued that the inquiry should scrutinize the driver’s judgment and whether more could have been done to prevent or slow the attacker after Rudakubana left the taxi.

Rudakubana, who used the fake name Simon to book the taxi and wore a mask and hooded hoodie during the ride, was later convicted of murder and given a minimum term of 52 years in January. The attack, which also injured ten others — eight girls and two adults — occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance studio near Southport. The inquiry into the day’s events is slated to run through November, as investigators sift through witness statements, dashcam footage, and the timeline of police and emergency responses.

Poland’s testimony aligns with the wider questions the inquiry is examining: whether lessons can be learned about how taxi drivers, guardians, or other bystanders respond in active-shooter or violent-crime scenarios, and whether any earlier intervention could have changed the course of events. The proceedings continue as families press for a clearer depiction of responsibility and safeguards to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.