Tearful parents of Southport murder victims call for child safety to be their legacy

The heartbroken parents of two girls killed in the Southport stabbings have called for better online safety – and for the Government to protect future generations of UK youngsters.

In tearful interviews with ITV Good Morning Britain’s , the parents of Elsie Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King relived their memories of the girls who, along with Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were murdered by Axel Rudakubana at the Taylor Swift-themed dance class last 29th July.

Last month, the Government announced a public inquiry after 18-year-old Rudakubana was caged for life for murdering the three girls and attempting to murder 10 others, including eight children.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how for years evil Rudakubana – who boasted he was “glad” he murdered the girls – had become warped and obsessed with watching online videos of murder, torture, genocide and stabbings.

Now on GMB, Elsie’s parents Jenni and David and Bebe’s parents – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said they hope as well as bring light and joy, they hope the legacy of their children’s deaths will be better safety for other kids.

Jenni Stancombe, 35, who said her daughter “didn’t know bad”, said: “If somebody’s made a decision that’s resulted in an element of failure then there needs to be accountability for that and I believe the announcement of the inquiry will do that and it will hold people to account for some of the decisions they’ve made.”

After Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the attack at the beginning of his trial last month, it was revealed he had been referred to the Government’s Prevent scheme on three occasions but the cases were closed.

Elsie’s father David Stancombe, 36, said: “No-one else should ever go through something like this. If it was that obvious that he’d been flagged up so many times like, what?”

Mrs Stancombe added: “I’d hate for anyone to go through this.” She said they were a “hard-working family” and the “only thing we wanted from the state is to protect us.”

While Bebe’s mother told the ITV show that she hoped her daughter would still have an impression on the world with the safety of other children paramount.

She said: “She can help just the future, protecting children, and I believe she is going to move mountains regardless. Our girls just need to be safe, our children need to be safer and protected.”

While the family’s solicitor Sara Stanger said they wanted online safety to be “paramount” in the inquiry.

She said: “They were all really shocked to hear that the videos that the offender accessed were all available on the open internet. Online safety should be paramount to this inquiry.”

Afterwards Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle MP praised the “moving interviews” and said “how brave” the parents were in opening their hearts about the two girls in the aftermath of “that unimaginable horror” attack.

But responding to online safety concerns – and the fact Rudakubana had been red-flagged by teachers, social services, police and anti-terror radicalisation organisation Prevent repeatedly before the attack – the minister said: “The learning process that there were chances missed to prevent the event in Southport is very important.

“We have got to reform the Prevent process to make certain it picks up people who are being radicalised without an apparent ideology and it’s important as much learning can be taken from these appalling events to ensure nothing like that happens again.”

In terms of Rudakubana’s easy access to viewing shocking videos online of murder and torture, Dame Angela said: “We are working closely to ensure we get that content off the Internet so it’s not seen by people who can be radicalised by it.”

In response to the families upset over judge Mr Justice Goose’s sentencing remarks being televised which included horrific details of the injuries the girls sustained, she said: “It’s important we listen and pout the victims of this terrible event at the heart of our response. I hear what they say and I will be considering very carefully the implications.”

The parents of Alice – Sergio and Alexandra – said they were not yet ready to publicly talk about their shattering loss but were supportive of Elsie and Bebe’s families doing the interviews.

In two separate, emotionally-charged interviews the two sets of parents who have been united by a shared tragedy and grief told Reid of the trauma of that fateful day, Rudakubana’s sentencing and their cherished memories of their little girls.

Asked if Rudakubana’s life sentence, with a minimum term of 52 years, brought justice, Elsie’s dad David said: “It doesn’t make us feel any better.

“The number’s massive, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t change how I feel. If he spends the rest of his life in jail it doesn’t bring back Elsie, does it?”

Jenni said the family had met singer Swift and her family weeks after the attack at her Wembley show and shown her pictures of Elsie, which she asked to keep.

She said: “If Elsie knew that Taylor knew her, it would be like all her dreams had come true.”

The couple, who said they “won’t let evil win this”, have set up the charity Elsie’s Story in their daughter’s memory.

Jenni Stancombe added: “So many times where we have said we’ll never feel true happiness again, ever. We might just feel a little bit of something when we make another child smile, for Elsie. It will give us a purpose.”

They discussed their conversation with the Prime Minister, Sir , expressing support for the proposed public inquiry to hold individuals accountable for certain decisions.

“Our town, our country, has shown us nothing but support, compassion, and love. We started a charity called Elsie’s Story,” they shared.

“There’s been so many times when we’ve said, ‘We’ll never feel ‘true’ happiness again, ever.’ It might just be a little bit of something when we make another child smile for Elsie.”

Jenni said: “It was a privilege to be her mum. I was so proud of her. The love she gave. Her nature was so pure.

“We promised ourselves that every day we would get up, have a shower and get changed and we’d never stay in our pyjamas and stay in bed. Elsie would never have wanted that. We won’t let evil win this.”

David said he feels “guilt” and “anger”, with Jenni explaining: “We just dropped her off to dance and make bracelets.

“That’s all we did. It was something nice for her to do for a couple of hours in the first week of the school holidays. She wanted to go so much.”

Jenni said she would have fought to the death for Elsie adding: “One hundred per cent. If we had been there it would never have happened. I might not be here but I would never have let it happen. I’d swap with Elsie any day.”

Clasping her husband’s hand as she told cherished memories of her little girl, Bebe’s mother stressed how “As parents, it is just really important for us to be able to remove Bebe from the past couple of weeks.”

She went on to say: “She was a human being. She was a beautiful, funny, crazy, gorgeous girl and her legacy, it can’t be defined by what’s happened.

“She was pure light, she was pure joy. I feel like a lioness and I have got to protect my child and I have got to make sure that people know that she isn’t defined by this.”

Asked by if Bebe is still with them, her mum added: “I feel her round me all the time.”

Weeping, she added: “She’s with me in every way. We both had a very special but different bond. It’s very personal to us.”

Turning to her Bebe’s dad, the child’s mum said: “You had a very different relationship to what I did but she was my ‘mini-me’.”

Her dad said: “She had me wrapped round her (finger). She was so affectionate. She just loved hugging

“Every morning she would come into me and get into bed and say ‘I love you Daddy’. She was so full of love and we were so close. It was so precious. I hold onto those moments.”

Talking about Bebe’s sense of humour her mum added: “She would come out with the silliest things. She was just so funny. The amount of videos I’ve got of me cackling, laughing in the background.

“It was brilliant. We almost had a hidden language. We could just look at each other and know what we were thinking. She was my best friend.”

They said Bebe discovered Taylor Swift last year and loved to sing ‘Love Story’ – one of the US star’s earliest hits – in their car.

Discussing her hopes and dreams her mum said: “We thought that whatever she did she was going to move mountains.

“I really hope this isn’t all for nothing. In spirit she could still have an impression on the world. If she can help in the future protect children.

“Since day one we said we have to live for her. We have to live how she would have wanted us to live and make the most of our life. We choose to push forward as much as we can with light and love and live the best we can for her.”

She was in tears as she spoke of the family’s final moments with Bebe in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. She said: “She was in her pyjamas, we read to her and the family visited her.

“It’s not what any other parent would want to go through. But we saw her and were with her and she was beautiful, she was at peace.

“The final day we lay next to her and we did our final goodbyes. It was a gift. Something that we cherish. We read Jack and the Beanstalk, with all the accents.”

Talking about meeting Taylor Swift shortly after the tragedy Bebe’s mum said: “We met her at Wembley. She asked to meet us personally. She was very lovely. It was quite overwhelming.

“We needed to do it for Beebs. It was all these little glimmers we had to try to find during those moments. We needed to find some light in the dark.”

Explaining all the brightly coloured bracelets the couple were wearing, Bebe’s mum said they made them: “They’re Taylor Swift bracelets.

“It’s been quite a nice distraction for me, grieving to have something to do.”

Bebe’s dad said it’s an “ongoing theme” as children had brought bracelets as tributes to ten girls at the street memorials in Southport after the attack.

His bracelet spells Bebe’s name so he can “see it every day”.

The shattered couple also criticised the fact the sentencing was televised and said they should have had more protection saying that is “one of the reasons why we are here today.”

He dad said: “It has set us back. We understand it had to be heard in court but that’s it. It didn’t have to be televised at all. That’s what really hurt us the most.”

Some GMB viewers said they were forced to switch channels during the tearful interviews as they found them too heartbreaking.

On social media one view said: “I can’t bear to watch this. I know I should, but it feels so uncomfortable to me. Not because I think the parents shouldn’t do it but because it’s too raw.”

Another added: “As heart breaking as this is, they need to stop showing the interview continuously, it’s too sad to watch.”

A third agreed: “I feel guilty watch the parents grieve, I feel like I’m intruding.”

The two families emotional interviews also left presenters Reid and Ed Balls fighting back the tears. As the camera returned to the studio, Reid turned to Balls and asked: “They’re remarkable aren’t they?”

* GMB airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1.