Keir Starmer is scheduled to hold a press conference at No10, following his warning that there are questions to be addressed regarding how the young victims of the Southport stabbings were "failed" by the state. The Prime Minister will address the nation at 8:30 am on Tuesday after welcoming the conviction of 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, described as the "vile and sick Southport killer".
Rudakubana pleaded guilty on Monday to the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, in a frenzied attack on a Taylor Swift-themed class on July 29 last year. He also admitted to the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas, and businessman John Hayes.
Mr. Starmer expressed that his thoughts were with the families of those affected, who will be spared the ordeal of a prolonged trial. However, he vowed to "leave no stone unturned" as he announced a public inquiry into the killings.
In an initial statement on Monday, the Prime Minister said: "It is also a moment of trauma for the nation, and there are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls. Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.
"At the centre of this horrific event, there is still a family and community grief that is raw, a pain that not even justice can ever truly heal. Although no words today can ever truly convey the depths of that pain, I want the families to know that our thoughts are with them and everyone in Southport affected by this barbaric crime. The whole nation grieves with them.", reports the Mirror.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has stated that the public inquiry into the Southport stabbings will "get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change". Ms Cooper revealed that Rudakubana had "contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years" before executing his "meticulously planned rampage".
She also disclosed that he had been referred to the government's anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent, on three occasions between December 2019 and April 2021 when he was aged 13 and 14. In a statement, she said: "The families and the people of Southport also need answers about what happened leading up to this attack. The perpetrator was in contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years. He was referred three times to the Prevent programme between December 2019 and April 2021 aged 13 and 14.
"He also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services. Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed."
She further stated: "The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been clear that important information about the perpetrator's past could not be made public before today to avoid jeopardising the legal proceedings or prejudicing the possible jury trial, in line with the normal rules of the British justice systems. Nothing has been more important than securing justice for the families.
"But now that there has been a guilty plea, it is essential that the families and the people of Southport can get answers about how this terrible attack could take place and about why this happened to their children."
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