One child remains in hospital a week on from the fatal Southport stabbing attack, police have said. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, died after the stabbings at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on 29 July. Eight children and two adults were also seriously injured. Merseyside Police said all of the casualties had been discharged with the exception of one child.
Leanne Lucas, a 35-year-old yoga teacher, had arranged the workshop and was believed to be leading the class. She was described as being in a “critical condition” in the aftermath. Her cousin Chris Rimmer called her a “hero” and said she had “shielded two girls” during the attack. Jonathan Hayes, who runs a business next door to the dance studio where the attack took place, was also in a critical condition after being stabbed in the leg.
From his hospital bed after undergoing major surgery on Tuesday, he told the BBC he was “saddened” he could not have done more to protect the victims.
As he tried to step in to save children, he came under attack himself. Instagram Leanne Lucas, with long, dark and curled hair, smiling at the camera with a cockapoo-type dog on her lap. Axel Muganwa Rudakubana has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder in connection with the incident.
In the days following the attack, violent disorder was seen in towns and cities across England.
False claims were spread online that the person responsible was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat and a Muslim.
The 17-year-old suspect, from Banks, Lancashire, is due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on 25 October for a pre-trial preparation hearing. The teenager, who was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff and moved to the Southport area in 2013, has no known links to Islam.
Source: BBC
