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.

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.

‘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.

‘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

Greg Milam

Chief North of England correspondent

@GregMilamSky

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.