Southport 'connected' by tragedy - Leanne Lucas

Leanne Lucas was speaking during a candlelit vigil to remember women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence

A dance teacher injured in the Southport knife attacks that left three girls dead has spoken publicly for the first time about how the tragedy made her lose "faith in the world".

Leanne Lucas, 35, was overseeing a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July in the Merseyside seaside town when an attacker entered the building armed with a knife.

The teacher who suffered serious stab wounds while trying to protect two girls said the community had become connected in a way "we couldn’t have imagined would be possible out of something so horrific".

Ms Lucas was speaking during a candlelit vigil to remember women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence.

Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King were killed in the Southport attack in July

Bebe King, six, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died after the stabbing at the Hart Space earlier this year.

Ms Lucas told LBC Radio the attack left her and her community feeling "very unsafe", but she hopes the girls' memories can prompt change so a similar incident cannot happen again.

She said: "My purpose was creating wellbeing events for children and families, and for that to happen where I was, and for the words I spoke and the children spoke, for that to be trampled over has just really dampened all of our spirits, feeling unsafe, feeling like we just lost faith in the world really.

"I'm not too sure how we'll ever move on, apart from use the girl's memories as a driving force to change things for other people in the future, so this doesn't have to happen to them again."

'Lot of love'

Ms Lucas, for whom more than £41,000 was raised to support her recovery after the attack, added there had been "glimmers" amid the horror.

"I try to resemble it as us being connected by an invisible piece of string. We're all connected in the most horrible way.

"Sometimes that string will fray and tangle and knot, but at the best of times, it will wrap together and it's brought a lot of us closer, creating kindness and warmth, and it's created a strong force that almost we couldn't have imagined would be possible out of something so horrific.

"There has been a lot of love come from Southport, a lot of love come from all over the world.

"The impact has been tragic, but there has been some glimmers, at times."

She added: "Hopefully people will be hearing a lot more from me in the future, after everything's happened and things are finished, I'm hoping my voice will get louder and louder and people will join me in that."

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

He was charged last month with the additional offences of production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.