‘I’ll never forget the screaming’: How the people of Southport are trying to make sense of horror
The pink ribbons on the front gates and signposts of Hart Street in Southport are faded now.
Warning: This article contains content some readers might find distressing.
Placed there in that wave of grief and shock, they are now one of the last visual reminders of what happened on 29 July.
One of the others: many of the doorbell cameras are still missing from their backplates. Cameras that recorded the horror on their doorsteps were taken away to provide the evidence.
The attack that took the lives of Alice Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King and injured others, has left an indelible mark on an unremarkable street in a genteel seaside resort.
(L-R) Victims Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and Alice Dasilva Aguiar
Axel Rudakubana, 18, from Lancashire, was jailed for life with a minimum of 52 years on Thursday at Liverpool Crown Court for the three murders.
He also admitted 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a kitchen knife on Monday, and further pleaded guilty to charges of producing ricin and possessing an al Qaeda training manual allegedly found in searches of his home in Banks.
Read more:
Mugshot of attacker Axel Rudakubana released
The vivid colours of the summer have given way to the harsh cold of winter on Hart Street. But if the physical reminders of that day are disappearing, the emotional scars are borne by everyone you talk to.
“I’m still in shock,” said Briony. “I don’t think I’ve completely processed it yet. I know a lot of people are definitely still in shock as well because it was in front of them that it happened.”
She was on the phone to her mum when she heard the first screams. Her front window, she said, felt like a giant TV screen, only the images playing out were of real-life horror.
Florist Briony said she ‘heard screams’ on the day of the attack
“I remember the parents turning up. They were abandoning the cars and running down the road screaming,” she said. “I’ll never forget that sound, just absolutely horrendous.”
Hart Street is one of many in Southport that features the idiosyncrasy of small industrial units tucked behind the rows of neat Edwardian houses and accessed by driveways between.
It was in one of the units that the attack took place, its victims spilling into the street as it unfolded.
Steve, who was rebuilding a wall in his front garden, ushered many of them, some badly injured, into his house and the care of his wife. He grabbed a hammer and went to confront the attacker as police arrived.
A survivor of the Hillsborough disaster, he plays down his role on 29 July. Desperate parents came to the house looking for their children, the horror for some was that their child wasn’t there.
“What is there to say? I just think of the families,” he said.
Hart Street in Southport, where the attack took place last July
The heroism of the people of Hart Street gave way to a community response that sustained each other through those first few days and in the months since.
Initially, inside the bubble of the police cordon, they were insulated from the global spotlight that turned on their street.
Today there are people who, politely, refuse to talk about what happened. They have relived it enough. You can read in their eyes the trauma they carry.
But there are others who, if they would rather not talk publicly, do want to talk about it. Maybe it is easier to a stranger. Perhaps it is some catharsis for an experience, they all agree, that has changed everyone.
The pain on Hart Street is palpable.
People recall explaining to their own children why the faces of girls they knew were suddenly on the television, how seeing a certain shade of green brings back memories of the attacker’s distinctive hoodie, how anxiety now accompanies even the most routine of daily chores.
Some wonder whether they could have done something to stop the attack.
Thousands of flowers were left on Hart Street in the aftermath of the attack
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When you walk up garden paths that police swept for DNA evidence, when you use pavements and alleyways that were the scene of the most unimaginable horror – when does anything ever return to normal?
One house became an impromptu post office for the cards of condolence that arrived from around the world. Many were simply addressed “Alice, Bebe and Elsie, c/o Hart Street”.
Briony, who trained as a florist, was one of the residents who took it upon themselves to look after the mountain of flowers that also arrived at Hart Street, to keep them as fresh for as long as possible in the summer heatwave.
“I went out there with my headphones on so I could concentrate on it. It felt like it was important to show everybody how loved those three girls were and how the community cares so much about what’s happened.”
Some of the tributes live on, replanted in flower beds on Hart Street, Briony is drying some to turn into a work of art.
Briony is drying flowers left on Hart Street to turn into a work of art
The pain of the memories of the events of 29 July is matched only by the anger many feel at the scenes of unrest that followed.
“Disgusting. I thought it was disgusting,” said Briony. “It was just a sign of pure hatred and nothing else.”
Shifting the focus away from the families of the victims, for many, is unforgivable. Even in recent weeks, friends and relatives of the children caught up in the attack have continued to return to Hart Street.
They come to thank those who helped save lives that day. They talk. Sometimes they just hug.
“I can’t imagine what they’re going through. I just hope they can find some sort of peace at some point,” said Briony.
For the parents of Alice, the grieving process includes a monthly mass for her at their local Catholic church.
Father John Henegan gave victim Alice her first Holy communion and also held her funeral
Father John Henegan gave Alice her first Holy Communion last summer.
“She was just radiant, just this constant beaming smile, it was absolutely natural,” he said.
Weeks later, Father John was holding Alice’s funeral. How does he believe any family can reckon with the violence that took her life?
“Our response is goodness. Our response is hope,” he said, adding: “Love instead of hate. Hatred creates chaos and distress. Love is the way. Hope is the opposite to despair. We can change things. We can help to build a better world.”
On Hart Street, those pink ribbons continue to fade, but the memories of Alice, Bebe and Elsie never will.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
UK
Zhenhao Zou: More than 20 new potential victims come forward after ‘prolific’ rapist jailed for assaulting 10 women
Another 23 female potential victims have reported that they may have been raped by Zhenhao Zou – the Chinese PhD student detectives believe may be one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders.
The Metropolitan Police launched an international appeal after Zou, 28, was convicted of drugging and raping 10 women following a trial at the Inner London Crown Court last month.
Detectives have not confirmed whether the 23 people who have come forward add to their estimates that more than 50 other women worldwide may have been targeted by the University College London student.
Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth said: “We have victims reaching out to us from different parts of the globe.
“At the moment, the primary places where we believe offending may have occurred at this time appears to be both in England, here in London, and over in China.”
Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth
Zou lived in a student flat in Woburn Place, near Russell Square in central London, and later in a flat in the Uncle building in Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle, south London.
Read more: How a student described as ‘smart and charming’ was unmasked as a prolific sexual predator
He had also been a student at Queen’s University Belfast, where he studied mechanical engineering from 2017 until 2019. Police say they have not had any reports from Belfast but added they were “open-minded about that”.
“Given how active and prolific Zou appears to have been with his awful offending, there is every prospect that he could have offended anywhere in the world,” Mr Southworth said.
“We wouldn’t want anyone to write off the fact they may have been a victim of his behaviour simply by virtue of the fact that you are from a certain place.
“The bottom line is, if you think you may have been affected by Zhenhao Zou or someone you know may have been, please don’t hold back. Please make contact with us.”
Pic: Met Police
Zou used hidden or handheld cameras to record his attacks, and kept the footage and often the women’s belongings as souvenirs.
He targeted young, Chinese women, inviting them to his flat for drinks or to study, before drugging and assaulting them.
Zou was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim, as well as three counts of voyeurism, 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.
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Moment police arrest rapist student
Mr Southworth said: “Of those 10 victims, several were not identified so as we could be sure exactly where in the world they were, but their cases, nevertheless, were sufficient to see convictions at court.
“There were also, at the time, 50 videos that were identified of further potential female victims of Zhenhao Zou’s awful crimes.
“We are still working to identify all of those women in those videos.
“We have now, thankfully, had 23 victim survivors come forward through the appeal that we’ve conducted, some of whom may be identical with some of the females that we saw in those videos, some of whom may even turn out to be from the original indicted cases.”
Mr Southworth added: “Ultimately, now it’s the investigation team’s job to professionally pick our way through those individual pieces of evidence, those individual victims’ stories, to see if we can identify who may have been a victim, when and where, so then we can bring Zou to justice for the full extent of his crimes.”
Mr Southworth said more resources will be put into the investigation, and that detectives are looking to understand “what may have happened without wishing to revisit the trauma, but in a way that enables [the potential victims] to give evidence in the best possible way.”
The Metropolitan Police is appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force either by emailing survivors@met.police.uk, or via the major incident public portal on the force’s website.
An 11-year-old girl who went missing after entering the River Thames has been named as Kaliyah Coa.
An “extensive search” has been carried out after the incident in east London at around 1.30pm on Monday.
Police said the child had been playing during a school inset day and entered the water near Barge House Causeway, North Woolwich.
A recovery mission is now said to be under way to find Kaliyah along the Thames, with the Metropolitan Police carrying out an extensive examination of the area.
Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope in North Woolwich leading into the Thames
Chief Superintendent Dan Card thanked members of the public and emergency teams who responded to “carry out a large-scale search during a highly pressurised and distressing time”.
He also confirmed drone technology and boats were being used to “conduct a thorough search over a wide area”.
He added: “Our specialist officers are supporting Kaliyah’s family through this deeply upsetting time and our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.”
“Equally we appreciate this has affected the wider community who have been extremely supportive. You will see extra officers in the area during the coming days.”
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On Monday, Kerry Benadjaoud, a 62-year-old resident from the area, said she heard of the incident from her next-door neighbour, who “was outside doing her garden and there was two little kids running, and they said ‘my friend’s in the water'”.
When she arrived at the scene with a life ring, a man told her he had called the police, “but he said at the time he could see her hands going down”.
Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope that goes directly into the River Thames and is used to transport boats.
Residents pointed out that it appeared to be covered in moss and was slippery.
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