Southport stabbings: Parents of Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe pay tribute to daughters
Parents of two of the victims of the Southport murders have paid tribute to their daughters, describing them as “pure light” and “so brave”.
Warning: Some readers may find details in this article distressing
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the parents of Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, described how they wanted their daughters to be remembered.
Along with Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, they were murdered by Axel Rudakubana while attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July last year.
Elsie Dot Stancombe (left) and Bebe King (right)
The attack shocked the nation and led to riots across the country in light of misinformation about the killer’s identity.
Rudakubana, 18, was jailed last month for a minimum of 52 years after admitting three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder.
Recently, a rapid review into his contact with anti-terror scheme Prevent found his case should have been kept open.
Axel Rudakubana. Pic: Merseyside police
‘So mighty and so strong’
While a clip of Bebe playing outside was shown, her parents, who weren’t pictured during the interview for legal reasons, told the show: “She was so mighty but so strong but so kind at the same time.”
They described visiting her in the hospital after the attack, reading to her and lying next to her to say their “final goodbye”.
“I feel like a lioness and I’ve got to protect my child. We’ve got to make sure she isn’t defined by this. She was pure light. She was pure joy,” Bebe’s mother said.
A ribbon left in tribute to the young girls killed in Southport
‘We’ll never feel true happiness again‘
Jenni and David Stancombe, the parents of Elsie, described their daughter as fearless and brave.
In the aftermath of the attack, Taylor Swift asked to meet the families at one of her shows at Wembley Stadium, Elsie’s mother told the show.
She added it would have been a “dream come true” for the youngster if she’d known the pop star had known she existed.
They added they had since started a charity called Elsie’s Story.
“We’ll never feel true happiness again… ever, but we might just feel a little bit of something if we make another child smile, for Elsie,” Ms Stancombe said.
She added the “massive” sentence Rudakubana received didn’t make them feel any better, because even if he spent the rest of his life in prison, it wouldn’t bring their daughter back.
Southport will never forget
It is impossible for anyone who has not suffered the loss of a child to imagine how the parents of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and Alice da Silva Aguiar must feel.
But to hear Elsie and Bebe’s parents, speaking in their first television interviews, is to begin to understand a sense of their pain.
They have chosen to speak so that a world that knows so much about their daughters’ deaths instead hears about their lives: the fun, the joy, the hopes and the dreams.
Their words will mean most of all to the people of Southport.
In the near 200 days since 29 July, the community has formed an emotional protective shield around Elsie, Bebe and Alice’s families. People wonder how any family could cope.
To hear the families’ appreciation for that love and support from the community, especially after the dark days of recent weeks, will mean a huge amount. People want to celebrate the light of those young lives, reclaiming them from the horrors of last summer.
As everyone in Southport tells you, the town will never forget.
The parents of the two girls previously spoke to The Sunday Times and described the moment they were told “something awful had happened” to their children.
In the days following the stabbings, a number of false claims circulated on social media about the attack – including a false name and incorrect claims that the attacker was a recently arrived asylum seeker – with some of that misinformation believed to have fuelled rioting in various parts of England.
‘Highly likely’ killer will never be released
Rudakubana was 17 years old when he walked into the dance studio, indiscriminately stabbing his victims with a 20cm blade he had bought on Amazon.
As well as the murders of the three girls, he also admitted trying to murder eight other children, as well as instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
He was given 13 life sentences, with the judge, Mr Justice Goose, saying the killings had caused “shock and revulsion” around the nation and that it was “highly likely” he would never be released.
Read more:
The 14 minutes of terror that left three children dead
Family of Rudakubana ‘moved to secret location’
The incident was not labelled a terror attack, although officers later found a plastic box containing the toxin ricin under his bed in the village of Banks, Lancashire, along with other weapons including a machete and arrows.
His devices revealed an obsession with violence, war and genocide, and he was found to be in possession of an al Qaeda training manual.
It fell outside the definition of terrorism because police couldn’t identify the killer’s motive.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
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.
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