A teenage victim who was stabbed in the arm and back during the horror Southport attack that killed three young girls has bravely spoken publicly about what happened for the first time
A teenage victim of the horror Southport stabbing attack that killed three young girls has bravely spoken out about her coward attacker.
She slammed the evil murderer and said: “He’s a coward. That’s all he is and all he is going to be.” The teen, who cannot be named due to her age, described the moment the attacker tried to kill her and left her permanently scarred during the terrifying Southport stabbings which shocked the nation last summer.
She was stabbed in her back and three times in her arm on that shocking day. Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, were tragically killed.
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The brave teenager has chosen to publicly speak and share what happened on that horrific day for the first time and the trauma she endured afterwards, according to the Liverpool Echo. She said: “It was difficult going back to school. It was just like the elephant in the room because no one really knows what to say and because I didn’t see most of my friends in summer, people at school didn’t know what to say. It was just like gossip, everyone was talking about it. It was difficult.”
Following the attack, the teen’s school, in Southport, set up day trips for her as she had lost the summer to her mental and physical injuries, finding herself being fatigued from activities she wouldn’t have thought twice about previously. Her mum said: “The school have been so supportive and they’ve tried to create moments for her and her friends.
“They’ve been to Knowsley Safari Park and they also took them to the Radio City Tower too. She missed out on an entire summer with her friends and some of those relationships have shifted. It’s hard because [she] isn’t as happy as she used to be. We we’re trying to create moments to get that happiness back but you do have that guilt, survivor’s guilt.”
The teen is not afraid of displaying the physical scars left behind, but the effect of the attack amounts to more than the wounds on her body. She has a deep passion for dance, and loves spending hours practising. But after the attack she was unable to get back to her dance lessons for months.
She said: “It was hard mentally because we would travel over an hour to dance and that in itself is a long journey. When I’m there it’s a two and half hour session but then I was also unsure about the security of the building as well and whether I’m safe. Then after that it’s just a lot of little things as well as trying to get back into it mentally.”
Six months on from the stabbing, the attacker, whose name and picture continues to be a trigger for many of the people involved, pleaded guilty to the murder of three children and attempted murder of eight others, as well as two adults. He took the decision to plead guilty on the opening day of the trial, a move that has been slammed by the victim and her mum. She said: “It’s just cowardly, isn’t it?
“How many times could you have pleaded guilty before that and then you do it just at the last second. He was too cowardly to face it, he proved that by shouting in the courtroom. It’s just cowardly, he didn’t want to face anyone, he didn’t want to hear what anyone had to say. He’s a coward. That’s all he is and all he is going to be. Since he went after children he’s been a coward. That’s all he is in my eyes.”
When asked about the prospect of never truly knowing why he targeted the class on that fateful day, the girl’s mum said: “We knew from the outset we probably would never get that, so you have to make peace with the fact that the whys will never be answered.”
In court, the teen stood and read her victim impact statement, where she described pushing children out of the room after she had been stabbed, trying to save as many children as possible. In her statement, she said: “Things about the incident pop up on social media all the time – I feel like can’t get away from it. Even when I’m at home and I’m safe, it means that I feel like I’m mentally still there and experiencing it.
“Physically I’ve healed but my scars remain as a reminder of what you did to me, to us all. My sister and I are lucky we got to come home. Your actions mean that Alice, Bebe and Elsie didn’t. No sane person could do that, it’s sickening what you did, going in there knowing you’re going into a room full of defenceless children. Give me a reason for what you did. Arming yourself with a weapon and stabbing children. I hope you spend the rest of your life knowing that we think you’re a coward.”
Next month will see the Southport Inquiry resume, with the public inquiry looking at the events on the day of the attack as well as the events in the years that led up to the tragedy. Both the girl and her mum will be speaking on different days as people who have been impacted physically and mentally are called to give statements.
Now, she is looking to impact people’s lives as she launches a foundation called Go Anywhere, Be Anything (GABA), with the long-term aim to introduce first aid training into the national curriculum, with the hope of people seeing the effects of knife crime and to deter them from picking up a knife.
The teen, who sees her anonymity as both a layer of protection and a hindrance, is keen to get the support of a household name as she attempts to set up the foundation ahead of her dropping her anonymity when she turns 18. Her anonymity is currently legally enforced by a court order which protects all the child witnesses and victims of the attack.
Her efforts have seen her and her family sell GABA merchandise at Southport FC as she hopes to change the way children view knife crime. This will also be done through peer-led talks and initiatives in local schools.
