The father of one of the girls injured in the Southport attack has told an inquiry she was stabbed in the back by a “coward she didn’t see”.
On Wednesday, the second day of the public inquiry heard evidence from families of the children who survived the attack, carried out by Axel Rudakubana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year.
The father of one of the girls, who was referred to as C3 during the hearing to protect her identity, told the hearing at Liverpool Town Hall it was “patently clear that lessons need to be learned from what happened, and processes need to be changed”.
Sitting beside the girl’s mother in the witness box, he said: “Our nine-year-old daughter was stabbed three times in the back by a coward she didn’t even see.
“Although she didn’t know what was happening — she knew she had to run. ”
He said they had since seen CCTV footage of her running from the building on Hart Street, looking “scared, confused and pained” and hiding behind a parked car, before jumping to “relative safety” through an open car door.
He added: “We remain eternally grateful that we were lucky that day, and that the skill of the paramedics, surgeons and medical staff meant we got our little girl back.”
Describing his daughter as his “hero”, the father said she remained “the positive, caring, funny, enthusiastic, courageous girl she always was”.
He said: “She wears her scars with a dignity and defiance that is remarkable.”
Counsel to the inquiry Nicholas Moss KC said commemorative and impact evidence from victims and families was the “first and important part” of the first phase of the public inquiry.
Four statements were due to be heard on Wednesday, with more evidence from families expected when hearings resume in September.
The inquiry was opened on Tuesday by chairman Sir Adrian Fulford, who described the acts of Rudakubana as “one of the most egregious crimes in our country’s history”.
The 18-year-old was given a life sentence in January, with a minimum term of 52 years, for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
He also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
In his opening statement, Sir Adrian said Rudakubana “posed a very serious and significant risk of violent harm, with a particular and known predilection for knife crime”.
