Dance teacher who survived Southport knife attack speaks publicly for the first time

A creation teacher injured successful the Southport weapon onslaught that near 3 girls dormant has said the victims’ memories should beryllium a ‘driving force’ for change.

Leanne Lucas was overseeing a Taylor Swift-themed creation people successful Southport, Merseyside, connected July 29 erstwhile Axel Rudakubana, past aged 17, entered the gathering equipped with a weapon and attacked children and adults.

Bebe King, six, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed during the attack, portion the 35-year-old teacher suffered superior stab wounds portion trying to support 2 girls.

On Tuesday, Ms Lucas spoke publically for the archetypal clip since the killings during a candlelit vigil to retrieve the women and girls who person mislaid their lives to antheral violence.

Ms Lucas told LBC Radio the onslaught near her and her assemblage feeling ‘very unsafe’, but hopes the girls’ memories tin punctual alteration truthful a akin incidental cannot hap again.

She said: ‘My intent was creating wellbeing events for children and families, and for that to hap wherever I was, and for the words I spoke and the children spoke, for that to beryllium trampled implicit has conscionable truly dampened each of our spirits, feeling unsafe, feeling similar we conscionable mislaid religion successful the satellite really.

‘I’m not excessively definite however we’ll ever determination on, isolated from usage the girl’s memories arsenic a driving unit to alteration things for different radical successful the future, truthful this doesn’t person to hap to them again.’

Ms Lucas,who received much than £41,000 from the assemblage to enactment her betterment aft the attack, added determination had been ‘glimmers’ amid the horror.

‘I effort to lucifer it arsenic america being connected by an invisible portion of string. We’re each connected successful the astir horrible way.

‘Sometimes that drawstring volition fray and tangle and knot, but astatine the champion of times, it volition wrapper unneurotic and it’s brought a batch of america closer, creating kindness and warmth, and it’s created a beardown unit that astir we couldn’t person imagined would beryllium imaginable retired of thing truthful horrific.

‘There has been a batch of emotion travel from Southport, a batch of emotion travel from each implicit the world.

‘To beryllium honest, the interaction has been tragic, but determination person been immoderate glimmers, astatine times.’

She added: ‘Hopefully radical volition beryllium proceeding a batch much from maine successful the future, aft everything’s happened and things are finished, I’m hoping my dependable volition get louder and louder and radical volition articulation maine successful that.’

Axel Rudakubana, present aged 18, is charged with the murders of Alice, Bebe and Elsie and the attempted murders of 8 different children, Ms Lucas and businessman John Hayes, and possession of a knife.

He was charged past period with the further offences of accumulation of a biologic toxin, ricin, and possession of accusation apt to beryllium utile to a idiosyncratic committing oregon preparing to perpetrate an enactment of terrorism.

This came aft constabulary searches of his location successful Banks, Lancashire, successful the days aft the onslaught led to the find of a PDF record titled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual.