A garage owner who confronted Axel Rudakubana just before the Southport attack said he had no idea of the “unspeakable” horror the agitated teen was about to unleash – as he called for him to never see the light of day again.
Reliving the horrific events for the first time since 18-year-old Rudakubana pleaded guilty, Colin Parry said all he could see was the killer’s eyes when the knifeman, wearing a bright green hoodie and Covid face mask, arrived on Hart Street in a taxi and took a wrong turn into the entrance of his garage.
When the 63-year-old swore at him and told him to pay the driver, who had followed to demand payment, Rudakubana leant forward and replied: “What you gonna do?”
“He’s agitated, shuffling around because the lad realises he’s in the wrong place, yeah, and walks out,” he told The Independent. “Doesn’t run out. He just walked out, but he pushed past the taxi.”
Moments later screams were heard from the Hart Space studio next door, where 26 girls were making bracelets and singing at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday class. By the time Mr Parry arrived at the scene, his colleague was running out carrying an injured child who he laid on the floor in front of him. His white spray suit was soaked red with blood, he recalled.
“I was straight on the phone, immediately on the phone, screaming down the phone to the police,” he added.
“I said we need everybody, as many ambulances as we can get. We need all the paramedics. I said there are girls dying everywhere, bleeding to death. Plus the guy was still in the building and I didn’t know how many girls were in that building. He could have been killing them all.”
Within eight minutes, “droves” of police and paramedics had swarmed the scene.
In the months that followed Mr Parry, a director at Masters Vehicle Body Repairs, has sought counselling and struggled with nightmares and poor sleep as he comes to terms with the trauma.
“It was horrendous, I can’t tell you what we saw, it was horrific,” he said. “Just seeing the girls there, the poor little things. The little babies, they were only young.”
His brief encounter with the then 17-year-old killer is believed to be one of the last interactions the violence-obsessed teenager had before he launched the attack on 29 July last year, which claimed the lives of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. Eight more girls and two adults were wounded in the onslaught.
“I was only looking at his face and talking to him,” said Mr Parry, who had no idea he was armed with a 20cm kitchen knife. “He could have stabbed me, knowing what’s happened now… but he didn’t because he knew what he was here for.
“He would have been stopped then because we all would have jumped on him. But if I had known, he wouldn’t have been going next door. But we couldn’t see anything on him.
“All I remember is his bright green hoodie and the Covid mask. All I could see was his eyes.”
The prime minister vowed the attack would be a “line in the sand” for Britain and warned “terrorism has changed” as he launched a public inquiry into the atrocity after the killer admitted to 16 offences on Monday, including producing the deadly poison ricin and possession of a document which contained al-Qaeda training material.
Sir Keir Starmer also denied being part of a “cover-up” over the attack, insisting he kept the killer’s violent background secret to ensure he faced justice. Misinformation about the murders sparked violent race riots across the country in summer last year, which has since seen almost 450 people sentenced for their involvement in the disorder.
The PM however added there were “grave questions” to answer over the state’s failure to protect the girls after it emerged Rudakubana had been referred to the government anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times, amid concerns over his fixation with violence.
He was also excluded from mainstream school for carrying a knife and later returned to attack someone with a hockey stick.
Mr Parry added: “How he’s got through the school system and everything he’s done without somebody catching him before this, I don’t know. And after seeing the pictures of him, he looks evil. Scary.”
He called for Rudakubana to never see the light of day again ahead of his sentencing on Thursday. However, it is unlikely he will be handed a whole life term because the crime was committed weeks before he turned 18.
Mr Parry said: “I don’t believe that he should ever be let out whatsoever because he will do this again. That’s my opinion. You can’t change him.
“If he gets out in 20 years, he will be 38. He’s young enough. He would just go crazy again I’m sure.
“I don’t believe he should ever see the light of day again. I don’t believe he should have a life. He’s ruined so many people’s lives. It’s unspeakable what he’s done.”
The garage worker also paid tribute to the hero dance class teachers, including Leanne Lucas who was seriously injured trying to protect the girls from the frenzied knife attack.
“Leanne was just lying against a car out there, she said, ‘No, help the girls, look after them,’” he said. “She’s the brave one, she’s unbelievable. I have got a lot of respect for her and Heidi. They did a great job getting the girls out that they did and protecting them.”
