Pain is etched on Daniel Martin’s face as he re-lives the day Southport was changed forever.
While people in London, Manchester and Birmingham can put the horror of July 29 2024 out their minds, residents of this modest Merseyside town will never escape the trauma.
And for Mr Martin, the chilling reminders are daily.
He lives next door to the dance studio where the lives of three innocent young girls Bebe King, Alice DaSilva Aguiar, and Elsie Dot Stancombe were cut short in one of the most horrific killings the country has seen.
Every time he goes past a school and sees children running around in the playground, or hears them screaming in the pool when he takes his son for a swim, all those memories come flooding back.
No matter how hard he tries to move past it, those moments continue to haunt him.
And that is the sentiment that runs through most of the town.
While people have tried to get on with their day-to-day lives, they know the town will forever be scarred by those few minutes that so quickly changed everything they knew their home it to be.
Three pink roses, symbolising the three girls whose lives were taken, were left outside where the atrocity took place
Daniel Martin, 48, heard screams in his house when the attack happened. He thought it was the sound of children playing, only for his daughter to spot what was happening through her bedroom window
The site of where Axel Rudakubana, who has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 52 years, carried out his attack. The young girls had been enjoying a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at the Hart Space
For them, they once lived in a quiet seaside town overlooked by most of the country and rarely the site of major violent crime.
But now they say it will ‘always be blighted’ by what has become known as the ‘Southport murders’.
A short walk down Hart Street, where the three young girls were brutally stabbed to death and 10 others attacked by evil Axel Rudakubana last July, says it all. The street is empty, the skies are grey, and there is an eerie feel to the air.
On Friday neighbours were glued to their screens waiting for the twisted killer to be served justice, though they know it will not take back the horrific scenes they had to witness.
By the alleyway that leads to the Hart Space, where Rudakubana arrived by taxi to carry out the attack, lay three pink roses – symbolising the three young girls who had their lives taken away.
Mr Martin lives next door to the alleyway, and the studio where the Taylor Swift-themed class had been running can be seen from the back of his house.
Stood at his doorstep looking out, Mr Martin told : ‘Do you ever go past a school at lunchtime and you hear screaming because children are having fun in the playground?
‘Or if you’re in the swimming pool, you hear children screaming?
‘That’s what I heard that day.
Little Alice DaSilva Aguiar was one of the three children to have died after being fatally stabbed in the knife rampage at the Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop
Elsie Dot Stancombe was also brutally murdered in the knife attack. She was just seven
Bebe King, six, was also killed in the knife attack at The Hart Space in Southport last July
‘I was upstairs in my bedroom and my instant thought was that children were out having fun for the day. They’re going out for the day.
‘But then my 12-year-old daughter, whose bedroom faces the back, was in her bedroom.
‘And she saw him through the window. She saw Axel.
‘She saw him pulling a girl back by the hair, and children were running out, hiding behind cars.
‘I had no idea what was going on. My daughter had a puzzled look on her face as she tried to describe what she saw.
‘We rushed down and I started moving cars to clear up the road for emergency services.
‘We tried to help as much as we could but it’s hard to know what to do. We just had to witness it all unfold.
‘Then you had parents rushing to get to their children.
‘It was just horrible, all you could hear was screaming and sobbing.
‘I saw one of the girls who died.’
Axel Rudakubana, pictured during an earlier hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, was sentenced on Thursday
Teddy bears sit alongside the crowds of flowers in the centre of Southport as the town united to mourn the tragedy. This was in the aftermath of the attack last year
Mr Martin is still haunted by the events daily, as are many others who rushed out when the events unfolded on their street
Re-living those moments, he continued: ‘What gets to me is that he would have walked right past the house.
‘You never expect it to happen quite so close.
‘That evening was so horrible because there was a black ambulance and you knew they’d come to pick up those girls’ bodies.
‘It was so quiet, so surreal.
‘Then I also had my daughter to care for. She’s only 12, she was quiet and quite shaken.
‘She had to sleep with me and my wife for a few nights.
‘My daughter couldn’t look out of the window for a while, neither could my son.
‘Now Southport will always be known for the murders. It’ll always be known for that.’
The Atkinson in Southport, which was previously covered in flowers and tributes left for the three young girls. Yesterday it was empty as the town waited to see what sentence would be served to Rudakabana
The alleyway leads to the dance studio were Rudakabana went on a knife rampage. Girls were seen running out and attempting to hide as they fought for their lives
Police were spotted around Southport town centre on Thursday as they patrolled the area
And while in many ways life was meant to go back to normal once the cordons running across his street was torn down, the trauma stays with him.
‘With it being in the news again now, all those memories have resurfaced’, the 48-year-old said.
‘I was watching my boy swim at the swimming pool last Thursday, and the noise got to me.
‘It was stressful.
‘The children screaming in the swimming pool brought back those moments of hearing the screams here.
‘I remember going to the clinic for counselling and he said your brain just works these things out.
‘And so when they took the cordons down after a few weeks, it was most like “okay life carries on.”
‘But obviously it doesn’t work that way.’
The inhumanity of that has even made Mr Martin, a devoted Christian, question his faith.
The murderer pictured in a police mugshot
Friendship bracelets made trendy by fans of US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift reading the names of the three victims Alice, Bebe, and Elsie and ‘Bigger than the sky’. They were laid in tribute after the attacks
A framed photo was also left at the police cordon by Farnborough Schools last year, made up of an infant and junior school in Farnborough Road, where Elsie was a pupil
His eyes looked weary as he admitted: ‘It’s hard being a Christian through this. It just picks up emotions.
‘It’s hard because in the Bible it talks about God being a ruler, like a king, in control of everything.
‘And yet he’s also loving and kind, and wise, and just.
‘And so I don’t know why he allowed that to happen.
‘I don’t think anyone does, except the Lord himself.’
Before the area could even grieve the losses, the town was then hit with riots from far-right protestors.
Mr Martin described how it felt like he was in a ‘war-zone’.
He added: ‘The day after the attacks was horrendous as well when the riots kicked off.
‘We went around to a church family’s house, and it was lovely because we managed to escape for a bit.
Pictured: Riot police hold back protesters near a burning police vehicle after disorder broke out in Southport
Pictured protesters near a burning police vehicle in Southport. The town mosque was also attacked, with bricks thrown at it
Southport high street lay quiet on Thursday as the sentencing took place. People tried to go about their day but were constantly thinking of the tragic event
‘And then we were walking our dogs and you could see the black smoke from the riots.
‘Seeing the riots made me think of a war zone. It was noisy, there were helicopters circling above, black smoke.’
A few minutes down the road from Hart Street sits Southport’s high street.
And while the quaint street is dotted with customers, there is a dreary feel to the area. People are out going about their day, but really their minds are on the sentencing.
One man whose cousin’s child was attacked in the stabbings but thankfully survived spoke to nearby to where the memorial was held last year.
Ryan Chaunce, 38, said: ‘It’s made me worry about my little girl. She’s 11.
‘One of the little girls that was attacked and survived was my cousin’s daughter. She’s about the same age.
‘It hit the family hard. And she still won’t leave the house, she just wants to be with her mum all the time.
Ryan Chaunce told of how his cousin’s child was at the dance class when the attacks took place. While she survived, it has left her with lasting impacts
Mr Chaunce standing in front of the Atkinson in Southport, which was flooded with floral tributes, teddy bears and notes in the months following the deadly rampage
‘My cousin’s family have taken it as well as they could, they’re just there for their child really.
‘But her life will be changed forever, just as all the other children.
‘There’s no type of therapy that will be able to get rid of that.
‘She’ll be able to live life day-by-day but that’s always going to be with her.
‘Such a big event at such a young age, it’s going to stay with her.’
Speaking of the impact it’s had on Southport, Mr Chaunce, a support worker who has lived in Southport all his life, said: ‘In general for Southport, it’s left parents quite concerned because you really never know what could happen.
‘It’s also affected people wanting to put kids events on. And that pulls away from kids being able to have nice summer holidays.
‘Some of those kids that went to the dance class probably would never have got a family holiday because they can’t afford it. So those days out were exciting to them.
‘You just never think it would happen in such a small little town.
‘For such a big, big thing to happen here, it really has changed everything. And you can’t go back to the way it was. It’s always in the back of your mind.
‘I remember the day it happened, my wife saw police going up and down Southport and the first thing I did was ring my daughter and ask where she was and if she’s okay.’
He added: ‘I think there needs to be something in education that’s teaching kids what to be aware about and how not to be manipulated online.
‘It’s the ultimate way to help youngsters. I think the days of teaching Henry VIII and all the rest of it are gone.’
Ian Hayward said the town was ‘blighted’ by the events and it brought a sense of ‘doom’ to Southport
Closer to the scene of where it all unfolded, the owner of a TV repair shop Ian Hayward, told of how Southport will now always be ‘blighted’ by the incident.
The 75-year-old said: ‘Everyone in the row of businesses down here and the local residents have been affected.
‘I knew the family of one of the girls that was murdered. They were customers here too.
‘It’s been like living in the twilight zone.
‘When I came in the day after the attack, there was such a sense of doom and heartbreak. We could barely speak, we were in shock.
‘It’s never going to be forgotten. It’s just so horrendous that Southport is going to be blighted with this for the foreseeable future.
‘When the name Southport comes up, if you’re not from around the area, you immediately think of the atrocity.
He also told of his anger that the murderer, Rudakubana, had been able to fall through the cracks when there were so many warning signs
‘I’m also left with a sense of anger now that I know that the murderer had been on the radar three times.
‘It just seems crazy that he wasn’t apprehended or sectioned.
‘As a community we feel we’ve been failed, especially now that we know that a week before his father had to stop him getting a taxi to his old school.’
Speaking about the riots that were sparked following the attack, he said: ‘Then you had the misinformation and riots with the attack at the mosque which was appalling.
‘It was pretty scary because a lot of the rioters parked their cars down here and we were worried they were going to start throwing bricks at the businesses.’
Meanwhile, those slightly further afield from the scene told of their inability to comprehend how such a brutal event occurred.
Sisters Laura and Helen Briscoe, who live in nearby Hillside, told : ‘People are very shocked. I think we still can’t comprehend it.
‘But I don’t think it makes Southport feel unsafe. It could have happened anywhere. Southport is still a lovely place to live and bring up children.
‘The unfortunate thing is that when it happened people didn’t previously know of Southport, they call it Stockport half the time, but now unfortunately people will always associate it with the murders.
‘It’ll never be forgotten.’
Jay Moore, from Formby, says the events brought back memories of when the James Bulger abduction and murder happened
Pictured: The Norwood Business Centre which holds the Hart Space dance studio where the attacks happened
For Jay Moore, of nearby Formby, the recent events bring back memories of the James Bulger abduction and murder.
The 63-year-old said: ‘I remember when the news came through that kids have been stabbed in Southport.
‘And it was heartbreaking. Heartbreaking. It didn’t matter that it was close to us or not.
‘We’ve got grandkids that age, it’s just horrible. He went to a Taylor Swift dance class, it just makes you think “how long can you go?”
‘The guy must have seen a poster or advert online about it. Because the studio is off the road, you wouldn’t notice it if you drove past.
‘It’s horrendous.
‘Over time people get on with their lives. But I would imagine mums and dads who have small children would double check everywhere they’re taking them.
‘It’s more of a shock because it’s close to home.
‘I was around when James Bulger was taken. My son was the same age.
‘That was a shock. Every mum and dad would around with their kids strapped to them.
‘It’s the same with this.’
Referring to the riots, he said: ‘Nobody is going to condone throwing bricks or anything like that. We absolutely are never going to condone that.
‘But I understand the anger of “here we go again”. He’s got all this history, and now we’re finding out there was all this stuff on his computer.
‘Everyone is just disgusted by the lack of information we were given.
‘My friend works at the school he was going to go to a week before so I knew about who he was within a day. So why didn’t they just come out and tell us?’
Rob and Pat Brandwood said they feel a lot more cautious following the attacks
Rob and his mother Pat Brandwood, also of Formby said: ‘Everyone is fearful.
‘I take my son to Jiujitsu and they now lock the door.
‘When I was a kid I could get on the train on my own, but the world has changed.
‘With my son I’m just very cautious. You do just need more security now to stop this sort of thing happening again.
‘It is just so devastating, just so awful, that it does changes the area and the way people think.
‘They keep saying three children were killed, but eight children were stabbed too. It’s horrendous.’