Taylor Alert – ‘You didn’t look human, you look possessed’: Little girls who survived Southport attack and bravely tried to rescue their friends reveal the horrors of day that changed their lives forever

Haunting accounts from the little girls who survived the Southport attack have revealed how they bravely tried to save their friends as they faced a day of horrors that would change their lives forever.  

It was a sunny morning full of ‘laughter and excitement’ as a group of little girls made bracelets and sang songs at a Taylor Swift dance class. But at 11.45am on July 29, a hooded figure with glinting eyes unleashed an unimaginable horror. 

Axel Rudakubana, then-17, burst into the dance studio and attacked the young girls. 

Mr Justice Goose said: ‘He walked into the building up the stairs where he could hear the sound of happy children, in his mind with the intention to murder as many of them as he physically could. He wanted to try and carry out mass murder of innocent, happy young girls.’

Rudakubana murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, and tried to kill ten more people.

Yesterday, as Cardiff-born Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in jail, the victims’ families sat quietly sobbing, holding hands in a hushed courtroom as they shared their pain. 

The police officer who investigated the case said the innocent little girls had probably never known there was evil in the world until the day of the attack.

In incredibly moving victim-impact statements, the girls who survived the attack and their families told of the agony and unending grief that has shattered their lives.

Reporting restrictions protecting the surviving children’s identities mean they cannot be named or pictured and are referred to under pseudonyms.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, (left) Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, (centre) and Bebe King, six, (right) were killed in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at The Hart Space, Southport on July 29

The attack on little girls during a dance class shocked the nation. Pictured: Merseyside Police, pictured at the scene on July 29

The coffin of Southport attack victim Alice da Silva Aguiar is carried on a carriage after her funeral at St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Southport on August 11, 2024

Axel Rudakubana was handed a life sentence with a minimum of 52 years for the murder of three young girls at a Taylor Swift themed dance class on July 29 last year

Floral tributes laid for the victims of the Southport attacks in July last year

One 14-year-old girl said what she remembered most about the attack was the killer’s eyes. She said: ‘You didn’t look human, you looked possessed. 

‘It’s sickening what you did, going in there knowing you’re going into a room full of defenceless children. 

‘I hope you spend the rest of your life knowing we think you’re a coward.’

Another girl who survived told the court: ‘When people in school asked me ‘Do you wish you weren’t there that day?’ I said that, in some ways, I wish I wasn’t, but also, if I wasn’t there, someone else would have been stabbed and they could have died, so I’m glad I might have stopped someone else getting hurt.’

Meanwhile, the families of the girls killed and injured in the attack called Rudakubana a ‘coward’ for cowering in his cell during the sentencing rather than face the judge.

Below are the testimonies of the little girls who survived the attack that shocked the nation and left the children and their families with the memory of such inconceivable horror.

Child A: It was like a war zone, her father didn’t recognise her

The mother of a seven-year-old girl described how she was so badly injured that her own father didn’t recognise her.

The girl was captured on CCTV fleeing for her life, but Rudakubana dragged her back inside the building stabbing her more than 30 times.

Her mother said her husband entered a scene ‘like a war zone’.

‘There was a girl on the ground who was wearing the same clothes as my daughter’, she said. ‘Lying on the floor whilst members of the public tried to get a paramedic to her. She was so horrifically injured that my husband wasn’t sure if it was her – he had to ask this little girl if she had a brother, and what his name was.

‘She answered. It was her. Laying on the floor bleeding out from her arms and back. Her beautiful long blonde hair was covered in so much blood it looked brown and her daddy couldn’t recognise her. This is one of many, many moments that torture both of us.’

A court sketch of Axel Rudakubana appearing via videolink at an earlier court hearing. He has been jailed for at least 52 years – but is unlikely to ever be released

After two operations, each lasting six to seven hours, and multiple transfusions, the victim awoke thinking she was still in the nightmare where she couldn’t breathe.

‘She woke up still trying to grab on to her best friend. Still trying to escape him. Still trying to run’, her mother said.

‘She tells us how she thought it was a prank and when he approached her with the knife upstairs she told him she didn’t want one, she didn’t want to play.

‘But he attacked her.’

The child saw two of her friends die but, despite her injuries, she managed to escape: ‘He left her for dead in a lifeless pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs and she stood up at seven years old, and saved herself.’

The child now tells her parents: ‘I don’t know who I am any more.’

She will be scarred for life. ‘No more crop tops, no more short-sleeved T-shirts. No more swimwear, no more summer dresses’, her mother said.

But she said Rudakubana had not won: ‘He will not be remembered. When we think of Southport we will think of the girls. Their bravery. Their strength. He has completely failed to destroy her spirit, her amazing sense of humour, her fierceness and her pure beautiful heart.’

Child F, 14: ‘You [the killer] didn’t look human, you looked possessed’

Recalling the terrifying moment she encountered the killer, a 14-year-old girl said: ‘The dance club was full of laughter and excitement all morning with the girls full of life.

‘The beginning of my nightmare started when I saw you. I thought you were playing a joke.

‘I saw you in your green hoodie and face mask. The thing I remember most about you is your eyes. You didn’t look human, you looked possessed.

Axel Rudakubana (pictured) was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years behind bars after he murdered three young girls at Taylor Swift themed Dance Class in July 

‘I watched you stab someone and then I saw you coming for me. It was like slow motion.

‘You stabbed me in the arm and instinctively I turned and that’s when you continued to stab me

in the back although I didn’t feel it at the time.

‘All I could hear was the screams.

‘I remember thinking we need to get away as you weren’t going to stop. I knew from your eyes you wanted to try to kill us all.’

Reading out her statement to the court via video link, her voice trembled as she told Axel Rudakubana: ‘It’s sickening what you did, going in there knowing you’re going into a room full of defenceless children.

‘Give me a reason for what you did. Arming yourself with a weapon and stabbing children.

‘I hope you spend the rest of your life knowing we think you’re a coward.’

Child F was at the Taylor Swift-themed event with a sibling, Child T. In a further statement, their family blasted Rudakubana as a ‘monster’.

‘Today our family welcome the sentence imposed on that monster, however nothing will ever reverse the heartbreaking events of that day,’ they said.

‘Our children have been exposed to scenes that no one should ever see and caused unimaginable pain and heartache for us all. Alice, Bebe, Elsie and their families remain in our thoughts always.’

'We're heartbroken that we can never help Alice fulfil her dreams, we can't hug her any more, brush her hair.

'We can no longer wake up with Alice's happy smile or get a morning kiss and hug from her... It feels like we're stuck in a 5D horror movie.

'We would do anything to hold Alice one more time.'

Girl, 10: I saw the blood coming out 

A girl of ten was making bracelets when she was stabbed in the back by a man she thought was a cleaner.

She said: 'When I saw him and what was happening I thought it was a prank.

'I realised it wasn't a prank when I saw blood coming out of me.

'I remember everything being fuzzy and everything that was going through my mind was about my family and friends.

'I was thinking, I don't want to die, I have got to get out of here.

'I was trying to scream but I was struggling to scream.'

She managed to run out of the building to her mother, who was waiting in the car outside, before she was airlifted to hospital.

'I was scared about what was happening to me in hospital,' she said.

'I didn't want to tell my mum at first what I had seen as I didn't want her to worry, and if I died, I wanted her to live her life without her knowing about it so I told the trauma nurse.'

After six hours of surgery, during which her spleen had to be removed, the girl awoke in a panic thinking that someone would get into her room.

She said: 'I think about all the other children that were there and I feel guilty that I wasn't able to help the children that died and I think: 'Was there anything I could have done to help them?'.'

Child C: My being there that day saved someone else

When asked to explain the impact of the appalling attack, a nine-year-old survivor known as Child C, who suffered three wounds to her back, said: 'I struggle with my emotions, and I have scars that I know will be with me forever, but I want to look forward.

'When people in school asked me, 'Do you wish you weren't there that day?' I said that, in some ways, I wish I wasn't.

'But also, if I wasn't there, someone else would have been stabbed and they could have died, so I'm glad I might have stopped someone else getting hurt.' The nine-year-old's proud parents said yesterday: 'These are not the words that any little girl, who just liked yoga and making bracelets, should ever need to say.

'Her words both horrify us and make us immeasurably proud.

'Our daughter is strong. Our daughter is positive. Our daughter is brave.

'Our daughter is beautiful. Our daughter loves and is loved. Our daughter sees the best in everyone.

'Our daughter is everything that Axel Rudakubana is not. She is our hero.'

The dance teacher: How can I live knowing that children died?

Class instructor Leanne Lucas says she is paralysed by guilt about what happened, despite being attacked as she saved the lives of many children.

'I cannot give myself compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died,' she said.

Class instructor Leanne Lucas says she is paralysed by guilt about what happened, despite being attacked as she saved the lives of many children

Her fellow dance teacher Heidi Liddle (pictured) 'locked children in the bathroom' and ushered others to safety during the horrific attack

She added: 'He targeted us because we were women and girls, vulnerable and easy prey. To discover that he had always set out to hurt the vulnerable is beyond comprehensible.

'For Alice, Elsie, Bebe, Heidi, and the surviving girls. I'm surviving for you.'

Ms Lucas suffered five stab wounds to her scalp, neck, the right of her spine extending through the muscle between the ribs, her shoulder blade and forearm. 

She now lives in fear.

'I constantly see his face', she said. 'As a 36-year-old woman, I cannot stay in my own home alone. I cannot go to work.

'I cannot walk down the street without holding my breath as I bypass a person and then glance back to see if they've attempted to stab me.'

Her colleague, Heidi Liddle, said in a short statement: 'My heart is with the families of Alice, Bebe, and Elsie, as well as everyone affected by this devastating tragedy.'

The parents: It was the worst day of our lives

The parents of other children who survived Axel Rudakubana's murderous rampage shared their profound gratitude to emergency services and locals who rushed to help in the moments after the terror began.

The mother of one child survivor, who hid in the toilets with Heidi Liddle, described the 'chaos' as she arrived to collect her daughter.

'I abandoned my car and ran to find one of the event leaders, Leanne, covered in cuts and blood and saying, 'he just came in and stabbed us',' she said.

'As I approached the house where the kids ran to for safety, all I could hear were screams.

'My daughter wasn't there, and it quickly became apparent she was still in the building with the knifeman.

'Following the arrival of the emergency services, I ran into the building after them to be with my daughter who I already believed was seriously injured or dead.

'The police told me I couldn't go in the room. To my relief I turned around... and saw her standing there with the other event leader, Heidi.

'Heidi saved my girl that day by following her to the toilet after she headed there instead of down the stairs and out the door with the other children.'

Police stand at the cordon on Hart Street in Southport after Axel Rudakubana burst into a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and stabbed 11 children, three of them fatally, and two adults

People leaving flowers at the scene of the attack, which happened on July 29 last year

Taylor Swift issued a statement following the attack, saying she had been left 'completely in shock' at the 'loss of life and innocence... inflicted on everyone who was there'

The court also heard a statement read on behalf of the parents of two sisters who survived the attack.

They said: 'It was the worst day of our lives. Both of our daughters suffered horrendous injuries… the girls are resilient but the injuries they sustained still affect them.

'Since the incident the girls can't be alone. They don't leave their parents' side. They sleep with their parents.

'They are unable to walk to school without feeling scared.

'They won't get out of the car if it's dark outside. Any slight noise can alarm them.

'They struggle with simple things that weren't a problem before, like taking a shower and brushing teeth.

'It's like having babies again.'

The mother of two girls who survived the attack said the day 'changed our lives as a family forever'.

In a statement read in court by prosecutor Deanna Heer KC, the woman said: 'This was meant to be a fun summer event and the girls couldn't wait to take part. It was a normal day, like any other, it didn't cross our minds that we should be worried about anything happening to them.

'They both love Taylor Swift and were looking forward to spending time with their friends and the teachers.

'The whole day feels so surreal, like a blur. It was the worst day of our lives. Both our daughters suffered horrendous injuries at the hands of this one person.'

Tents are erected at the scene of the Southport attack by police and forensic officers. Parents told Rudakubana's sentencing hearing their children had been left with horrific scars 

A man leaves flowers at the scene of the attack on July 30, one day after Rudakubana stormed the class armed with a kitchen knife

The woman said one of her daughters now has 'a complete lack of confidence' and has become 'severely self-conscious of her scar'.

'She tries her best to wear her scars with pride, however I have caught her crying about the way she looks and she asks me why this has happened to her,' the statement read.

She said the girls 'are unable to be left alone for even a matter of minutes'since the attack and are 'in a state of paranoia constantly'.

The woman said: 'As parents, we feel helpless, we feel guilty. We have to live with the guilt that we sent our children to that event on that day, which will now impact them for the rest of their life. 

'Trust has broken between us and our children, they constantly question us about whether they are going to be safe. It feels as though they blame us for taking them there that day.'

She added: '(The girls) are worried that this man will walk the streets again. This is something they constantly speak about and it petrifies them.'

The parents of Child L, a young girl who was injured in the attack, said: 'We recognise that we are extremely fortunate to have our little princess with us, and we are immensely proud of her and the bravery, courage, and resilience she has shown, both on the day of the attack and since, as she takes the first steps on the long road to recovery. 

'We welcome the guilty verdict but also realise this is only the first step on the road to justice. We welcome the public inquiry and believe that true justice can only be achieved by preventing anything like this from happening again.' 

For the families of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice Da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, the sense of loss is even greater. 

Elsie and Alice's families read heart-rending statements as part of the killer's sentencing. Bebe King's family did not make a statement.

Elsie Dot Stancombe: No matter the pain, we will carry her love forward 

Jenni Stancombe had a defiant message for her seven-year-old daughter's killer: 'That day we lost our beloved daughter, the three of us lost our best friend. But we are not going to stand here and list everything you have taken away from us, because we refuse to give you the satisfaction of hearing it.

'We will not let you know anything about her because you don't deserve to know the extraordinary person she was.

Elsie Dot Stancombe was one of the victims in the Southport massacre 

'You know what you have done, and we hope the weight of that knowledge haunts you every single day.

'The nature of your actions is beyond contempt.

'You deliberately chose that place, fully aware that there would be no parents present, fully aware that those girls were vulnerable and unable to protect themselves.

'You chose that place, that time, and those circumstances, knowing that when we arrived, all we would see was the aftermath of the devastation caused.

'We were robbed of the opportunity to protect our girls.

'What you did was not only cruel and pure evil. It was the act of a coward. Though you have stolen our daughter from us, you will not take away our determination to honour her memory, we will carry her love, positivity and her legacy forward, no matter how much pain you have caused.'

Ms Stancombe said that knowing Axel Rudakubana was likely never to go free gives 'us a small measure of justice'.

'He took our daughter, her life, her future, and everything she could have been,' she said. 'There is no greater loss, and no greater pain.

'His actions have left us with a lifetime of grief, and it is only right that he faces the same.'

Alice Da Silva Aguiar: Once she had gone, we lost our lives

The parents of nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, Alexandra and Sergio, described how 'life was bliss' and 'every day felt like a gift' before their lives were turned into a '5D horror movie' by Rudakubana.

'Alice was a beautiful girl, perfect in every way; loved her school, her friends, music, dance, colourful pens and friendship bracelets.

'She loved Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter. She was a strong and confident pre-teen with a world of dreams and unlimited potential.

'We just wanted to see her happy, and that was the easiest job in the world.'

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, was one of the three children killed in the knife attack in Southport

The parents of nine-year-old Alice (pictured) described how 'life was bliss' and 'every day felt like a gift' before their lives were turned into a '5D horror movie' by Rudakubana

Recalling the day of the attack they said: 'This was the perfect start to her beautiful day, but also the worst.

'In a matter of minutes our worlds were shattered and turned upside down by the devastating attack on our Alice. A pin drop that changed our lives for ever.

'We kept our hopes up every second during Alice's 14-hour fight but once she had lost her fight, we lost our lives. Everything stopped still and we froze in time and space.

'Our life went with her. He took us too. Six months of continuous pain and a lifetime sentence of it.

'That's what we got then and the life we live now. Our dream girl has been taken away in such a horrible, undeserving way that it shattered our souls.'

Alice's parents said: 'In a matter of minutes our worlds were shattered and turned upside down by the devastating attack on our Alice. A pin drop that changed our lives for ever'

Alice da Silva Aguiar - eager to get into the Taylor Swift dance class on Hart Street on July 29 last year