The Southport Inquiry chairman Adrian Fulford has said killer Axel Rudakubana was “clearly” an extreme danger and the attack “could and should have been prevented.” Government agencies and Rudakubana’s family are blamed…
Fulford’s 260-page Phase 1 report is scathing of the agencies involved in dealing with Rudakubana over the years and his family for failing to act on clear information. Its key findings:
- “Absence of risk ownership: No agency or multi-agency structure accepted responsibility for assessing and managing the grave risk posed by the perpetrator.
- Critical failures in information sharing: Essential information was repeatedly lost, diluted or poorly managed across agencies.
- Misunderstanding of autism: AR’s conduct was wrongly attributed to his autism spectrum disorder, leading to inaction and a failure to address dangerous behaviours.
- Lack of oversight of online activity: AR’s online behaviour, which provided the clearest indications of his violent preoccupations, was never meaningfully examined.
- Significant parental failures: AR’s parents did not provide boundaries, permitted knives and weapons to be delivered to the home, and failed to report crucial information in the days leading up to the attack.”
