Southport victim’s mother demands truth from inquiry into killings

The mother of one of the three girls killed in the Southport attacks has angrily demanded those who failed her daughter be held to account.

Lauren King, whose six-year-old Bebe King was the youngest of three children murdered in the attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July 2024, told the hearing at Liverpool Town Hall that the inquiry needed to “face the truth” and deliver “real change”.

The inquiry – set up to examine the history of their killer and his contact with various agencies – also heard from the parents of Alice Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.

They described how their lives had been shattered by the loss of their beloved daughters.

• Warning: This report contains distressing information

Eight other children and two adults were seriously wounded during the attack at a dance studio in Hart Street.

Earlier this month, the inquiry heard evidence from some of those who had survived.

Monday had been earmarked as a day for the parents of the three murdered girls to address the inquiry.

Jenni and David Stancombe, Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar, and Lauren and Ben King all fought through tears and sat side-by-side in the witness box as their statements were delivered.

Mrs King, 42, described Bebe as “joyful”, “hilarious” and “magical”, and said her bond with her daughter had been “spiritual”.

Her voice rose in anger as she demanded “accountability”.

“This was preventable,” she said. “And no other child, no other family, no other community should ever endure what we now live with every single day.”

She described the desperate hours after she and Mr King were told a man had attacked the dance studio – including “hours walking around in the intense heat” not knowing whether Bebe was alive.

Mrs King said they had been standing in the street, in public, when they were first told Bebe had been killed.

“These are moments no form of therapy can ever resolve,” she said.

She finished by telling the inquiry: “We will carry her in our hearts for the rest of our lives.

“But those sitting here today carry a responsibility too: to make sure no other child, no other sister, no other family ever suffers what ours has suffered.”

Earlier, a statement from Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar, read by their lawyer Chris Walker, described how their “little family unit” had been destroyed when their only daughter was killed.

Mrs Aguiar, 34, described a scene of “panic and terror” when she arrived to collect Alice.

She described “injured little girls” all over the car park.

She ran into the building, where the killer was still being detained by police, the inquiry heard.

“I saw devastation everywhere, blood smeared on the walls, cries and sobs of little girls in fear and agony from their wounds,” she said.

Mrs Aguiar said she had found her daughter outside, where paramedics were tending to her injuries.

“My happy, loving, innocent little girl [was] hurt by a monster,” she said.

Alice was taken to Southport hospital where, after 13 hours, Mr and Mrs Aguiar were told she had not survived her wounds.

“We just hope that she couldn’t feel any pain and that she wasn’t scared,” Mrs Aguiar wrote.

“This haunts us both. We live with this thought most days now.”

Jenni Stancombe, 37, told the inquiry her daughter Elsie was “our joy, our pride, our everything”, adding: “She just radiated warmth and love to everyone around her.”

She told the inquiry her daughter’s death could not be categorised simply as “knife crime”.

“The issue runs much deeper than the weapon that was used,” she said.

“It’s about the root causes, the drive, the intent, and the series of failures that allowed it to happen.”

Mrs Stancombe recalled the moment they had received a call to say a man had attacked the dance class, and how they had driven to the scene in their car before abandoning it in the middle of the road.

She said two police officers had had to lift Mr Stancombe off his feet to stop him running inside the building.

She said they had been able to see the “devastation” caused as they searched among the other wounded girls for Elsie.

“What we saw that day will stay with us for the rest of our lives,” Mrs Stancombe told the inquiry.

“Out of respect for the other victims, I will not go into detail, but it goes without saying; no human being should ever witness what we did that day.”

She said after they had described Elsie’s clothing, a police officer confirmed a child inside the building fitting that description “hadn’t made it”.

“David knelt down in front of me and just looked at me. I didn’t believe them. I didn’t want to believe them,” she said.

“Elsie’s life was stolen, robbed in the most traumatic way.”

The inquiry continues.