Exclusive
'I looked him in the eye and said what have you done?': Horror aftermath of Southport rampage revealed
23 January 2025, 08:29 | Updated: 23 January 2025, 09:41
Resident tells of horror as he rushed in to help - as survivors hid inside locked toilet
A man who came face to face with Axel Rudakubana on the day of the Southport stabbings has told LBC how he spoke to the killer after his rampage.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time, walked into the Hart Space on July 29th and began attacking children with a knife he had bought from Amazon.
Alan Crowley is a resident on Hart Street, and was alerted after a commotion ensued when Rudakubana refused to pay the taxi driver who had taken him to the scene.
He told LBC: "I saw someone on the floor, that was my first instinct; "Why's somebody on the floor?" That's not normal. Normally all the parents are stood round chatting, I saw someone on the floor and thought maybe it's a bit of road rage, but the moment a window smashed I knew it was something to get involved in.
"I just saw people losing their minds, ringing 999, first responders turned up, it was police, and I waved them in. I stood by the door, because I knew they were worth waiting for because they had knife vests, first aid training, even if we tackled him we couldn't really do anything for people injured because we were just civilians.
"We just bolted in as soon as the first officer was in. He (Rudakubana) was at the top of the stairs... I don't want to go into too much detail of what I saw.
"When we tackled him, he was like a scared child. He's probably never taken a smack in his face his entire life, but the moment we tackled him, all you see is the eyes. For someone with extreme violence, he didn't really lash out at us.
"Two police officers were on top of Axel, I saw the knife, he'd just placed it on the floor. He gave up, job done.
"I saw it was secure and started looking for survivors, banging on the toilet door and there were three girls inside, there was a combination lock on the door so I couldn't open it, but I just kept talking to the girls and saying "it's okay, it's over", and then the police kicked me out.
"While I was talking to the girls in the toilet, at the same time Axel was being detained by two officers. I literally turned to him, looked him in the eye and said to him, "What have you done, you absolute s**t". That's how I feel about him. He's another monster, no remorse, no nothing."
Since Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the 16 charges, it has emerged he was able to buy the murder weapon on Amazon, despite being under 18. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said it was a "total disgrace" and stricter measures must be implemented.
Alan told LBC: "Double ID on banning a knife is stupid, it's not going to nullify the fact you can go and get one from Tesco or Asda. It wasn't a combat knife was it, it was a kitchen knife.
"It's a complete failure. There's a lot of holes in the story, it's not resonating well with the residents or the community, I'm fuming.
He added: "I'm still waiting on trauma therapy, not sleeping, my brain is mush. I'm angry about it."
Plans are in place for a permanent memorial to the victims of this horrendous attack, but Alan says it will take time to come to terms with what happened, he said: "It's going to be time and coming together and letting the wound heal. It'll happen as false interest wanes and the community can heal.
"As long as we all come together, build on the foundations of the first step forward into recovering as a community, but right now it's just so raw, and all the failings are not helping. No admittance isn't helping. One of our famous inquiries, I just see it as time-wasting, running the clock out. We're just not learning.
Child-killer Axel Rudakubana is set to find out the number of years he will spend behind bars after admitting the murders of three girls at a dance class in Southport.
The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to all 16 offences he faced on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29.
The defendant, who was 17 at the time of the killings, admitted their murders as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Rudakubana is not expected to receive a whole-life order because he was 17 at the time of the attack and the measures can normally only be imposed on criminals aged 21 or over. They are usually only considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances.
