As Axel Rudakubana Is Sentenced, Court Hears of Acts of Heroism During Southport Attack

Ms. Heer recounted how he had traveled by taxi to Hart Space, where a sold-out Taylor Swift-themed dance class for children ages 6 to 11 was underway during the summer break from school. Visual evidence shown in court, taken from CCTV footage and police-worn body cameras, showed Mr. Rudakubana arriving outside the dance studio.

He entered the building and stabbed several children as well as Leanne Lucas, one of the teachers who had organized the class. Moments later, screams could be heard on the footage, before children were seen running from the building.

Some were covered in blood and collapsed before bystanders helped them.

Several people wept in the courtroom as the footage was shown, and some chose to leave, overcome by emotion. The injuries suffered by Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, were so severe that they died inside the building. Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, ran outside but soon collapsed. She was taken to the hospital and died the next day. Eight other children and two adults, including Ms. Lucas, were wounded.

In a statement read out in court, Ms. Lucas said that her injuries had affected her physically and mentally.

“I, as do the girls, have scars we cannot unsee, scars we cannot move on from,” she said, adding, “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.”