The father of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana admitted at a public inquiry Wednesday that he bears responsibility for his son's actions, citing fear of the teenager's violent outbursts as the reason he failed to intervene. Alphonse Rudakubana described being threatened with death and becoming "conditioned" to his son's abuse in the months before the July 2024 attack that killed three young girls.
Alphonse Rudakubana told the inquiry his son poured oil over his head in early 2024, then threatened: «if you get me out of here, this house, it may take a day, a week, or it may be years, I will kill you and trust me I will kill you.» He added: «He looked seriously at me and it was quite frightening actually.» The father described his son exhibiting violent outbursts up to twice daily, leaving him with "no authority as a father."
In a written statement, Alphonse Rudakubana stated: «This had catastrophic consequences for which I am desperately sorry.» He acknowledged: «I accept that I bear my share of the responsibility and that by not challenging AR's behaviour he was allowed to acquire dangerous weapons and view inappropriate content online.» When questioned about exercising more responsibility, he responded: «I tried before and he was violent.»
Brother suggests motive
Axel Rudakubana's older brother Dion testified that his sibling may have targeted children because it would harm society most severely. He told the inquiry: «Children are very valuable to society in that they are society's future and it would hurt society particularly badly if something like this happened.» Dion described his brother as having "frequent outbursts" and compared him to a "sociopathic" hitman from the film No Country for Old Men.
The inquiry heard that Dion had been warned by his father to be "very careful" around Axel just days before the attack. The family had been hiding kitchen knives at home since 2019, when Axel was permanently excluded from Range High School after admitting to bringing a knife to school on 10 occasions.
The Southport attack
On July 29, 2024, then-17-year-old Axel Rudakubana killed Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7), and Alice da Silva Aguiar (9) during an attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport. He also attempted to murder ten others. The teenager, now 19, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 52 years after admitting the offences on the first day of his trial in January.
The public inquiry is examining whether authorities missed opportunities to prevent the attack. Evidence has been heard from police, schools, mental health providers, and counter-terrorism officials. Axel's mother Laetitia Muzayire is scheduled to give further testimony.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
