Those statements from the families of the girls killed in the Southport attack came as today's hearing was wrapping up.

Both of Axel Rudakubana's parents were asked about their experiences of raising their son, and were pushed on whether they could have done more to prevent him from carrying out the attack.

We're now bringing our live coverage to an end, but here's a look back at what we heard today:

• Both of his parents expressed regret over failures to prevent the "horrific" attack
• The killer's father, Alphonse Rudakubana, said he found a bow and arrow and sealed box - later revealed to contain the ingredients of the deadly poison ricin - under his son’s bed a week before the Southport attack
• Mr Rudakubana said that he knew his son had bought knives, but maintained that he believed he only posed a risk to "me, only me", not others
• He said had he reported the delivery of a machete by his son to the police in June 2023, the Southport attack a year later would not have happened
• He also apologised for not contacting the police a week before the attack when his son tried to leave home in a taxi, claiming he did not have the "courage"
• Rudakubana’s mother, Laetitia Muzayire, told the inquiry that Axel “became another person” after being expelled school in 2019
• Ms Muzayire denies ever seeing weapons under her son’s bed, stating that his room was “off limits"

Image source, Family handout

The parents of six-year-old Bebe King, Lauren and Ben, had this to say:

The last few weeks and months have passed in a blur. We’ve chosen not to sit and listen to every moment of evidence, because from the very beginning, it’s been painfully clear that Bebe was failed at every possible turn.

We are now left trying to live in a world without her, when it is undeniable that this could have been stopped, if just one person had acted properly.

This week, everything has come to a head as we’ve learned about the deeply disturbing and shameful evidence relating to the actions of his parents.

We are parents too, and we take that role incredibly seriously. As parents, we believe we have a responsibility not just to our own children, but to society - to raise them with love, to nurture kindness, and to help them grow into responsible, compassionate adults.

Where was that responsibility from his parents? They were absent. They turned away from their duties. And that was not a one-off mistake, it was a pattern, repeated over days, weeks, months, and years.

Time after time, they had opportunities to intervene, to stop this, to protect others.

If they had acted with any real sense of duty, Bebe, Elsie and Alice would still be here. It is that simple.

What we’re struggling to comprehend is not just their failure then, but their failure now - to acknowledge, to take responsibility, to face up to what they allowed to happen.

The excuses, the contradictions, the lack of truth - it is hard to find words, especially when we reflect on the parents we were to Bebe, and the child she was.

We’ve been robbed of seeing her grow up into the beautiful, kind, joyful, selfless girl she was already becoming.

A little girl who would have given the world so much. But this isn’t just about the actions of one family. This is about the repeated failings of agencies and professionals who should have known better - who did know better - and still did nothing.

One of the most devastating aspects is that these failings happened not because there was no warning, but because every concern, every incident, was treated as isolated and not significant.

Piece by piece, the bigger picture was ignored. There were countless chances to intervene, but instead, those in power looked the other way. These were not unavoidable errors. These were systemic failures, and every agency involved must now be held accountable.

We want to thank our incredible legal team, whose unwavering support has carried us through this process. They have worked tirelessly on our behalf, carefully scrutinising every piece of evidence, ensuring the right questions were asked, and pushing for the truth to be fully revealed.

We are also grateful to the Inquiry team for handling this process with such diligence, and sensitivity.

Her name was Bebe, she was just six years old and she deserved to live.

Image source, Family handout

Meanwhile, the parents of nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar took aim at Axel Rudakubana's parents for their "failure to take responsibility, to act, to intervene when there were clear signs of danger".

Here's Alex and Sergio Aguiar's statement in full:

We stand before you today as the grieving parents of our beloved daughter, Alice, whose life was taken from her through preventable actions and failures of responsibility.

From the day she was born, we devoted our lives to giving Alice the love, safety, and opportunities every child deserves. We created a home full of warmth, care, and guidance - one where she was encouraged to grow into the kind, compassionate, and joyful person she was.

We trusted that when she stepped outside our care, she would be safe within a community built on those same values of responsibility and protection. That trust was betrayed.

You, as parents, had a duty - a fundamental and moral duty - to guide your child, to correct harmful behaviour, and to ensure that no harm would come to others because of it. That duty was not upheld.

Your failure to take responsibility, to act, and to intervene when there were clear signs of danger, directly contributed to the devastating loss of our daughter’s life.

This tragedy was not inevitable. It was the result of neglect - neglect by those who should have known better, and by a system that repeatedly ignored warning signs.

The institutions and authorities whose role it is to safeguard children failed in their most essential function.

The system failed Alice. You failed Alice. And because of those failures, we have lost everything.

The last words I said to our daughter were simple: “Have fun and enjoy. See you later. Love you.” Those words haunt us every day, because what awaited us on our return was not joy, but the unbearable reality of our worst nightmare.

We cannot comprehend how such an outcome was allowed to unfold when there were opportunities to act - when intervention, care, and responsibility could have prevented this.

It is unacceptable that the inaction of individuals and the shortcomings of the system have led to such irreversible pain.

We call upon lawmakers and authorities to recognise the urgent need for reform. Parents must be held accountable for the actions and behaviours of their children when they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent harm.

The system must be strengthened to identify risks, act upon them, and protect the innocent before tragedy strikes.

Our daughter’s death must not be in vain. Let her memory serve as a call for accountability, change, and justice.

We live with a wound that will never heal. But we will continue to speak, to seek truth, and to demand that no other family endure the same unbearable loss we have suffered.

Alice, Bebe and Elsie deserved better. Every child deserves better.

Image source, Family handout

We've just seen statements from the three bereaved families.

Jenni and David Stancombe, the parents of Elsie Dot Stancombe, say the following:

Reading [Rudakubana's parents'] statements has only added to the unbearable pain that David and I already live with every single day.

We knew early on that their lack of parenting played a part in all of this, but these statements reveal a failure of parenting on a whole new level.

We believe they should be held to account for what they allowed to happen.

They knew how dangerous he was, yet they stayed silent. They didn’t report their concerns, they didn’t act, and in doing so, they failed not only as parents but as members of our society.

Their statements show no real remorse or acceptance of the devastation their son caused. Instead, they try to distance themselves from the truth and deflect from the reality they ignored.

They knew his behaviour was escalating. They saw the signs, the obsession, the growing desire to harm, especially in the months, weeks, and days before the attack. And still, they did nothing.

When he left their home that day, wearing the same clothes as the week before and carrying the weapon they knew he had, I believe they knew he was going to do something horrific. Yet they neither stopped him nor called the police.

His father, in particular, has downplayed his inaction and withheld the full truth of what he knew. I have no doubt his latest evidence is yet another attempt to protect himself and his family’s reputation rather than face what really happened.

Hearing them give evidence this week has been deeply distressing. As parents, they continue to deny, deflect, and protect themselves rather than face up to the truth.

They claim not to recall key conversations and continue to shift blame onto others, rather than accepting their son’s responsibility, or their own as parents.

His father admits things were out of control at home and that he was frightened of [Rudakubana], yet still believed no further action or referrals were needed.

I find it impossible to believe that either of them do not remember or recognise the seriousness of the events leading up to the horrors of 29 July 2024.

Their accounts are inconsistent, selective, and, in my view, untruthful. They continue to minimise and distort what went on in their home.

Their refusal to be honest, to truly face what they allowed meant chances to stop what happened were lost.

Even now, their lack of honesty and understanding shows how deeply they failed as parents and as members of our society.

David and I have always taught our girls right from wrong. That is our duty as parents but it’s also our duty as part of society. His parents failed in that most basic duty: to their son, to us, and to the community.

Their failure led to our daughter’s murder. Now they are being protected, when in truth they should be held to account for their part in all this.

Parents should be culpable when they knowingly allow such evil to exist unchecked under their own roof, when they know what their child is capable of and choose to do nothing.

The values of our society depend on each of us taking responsibility. They chose not to, and because of that, we no longer have the chance to watch our kind, loving, beautiful little girl, who didn’t even know what bad was, grow up. Because of him, and because of them.

Image source, PA Media

Ms Muzayire becomes emotional, as she tells the inquiry: "I hate knives. It makes me ill.

She repeatedly denies seeing knife packaging in her house on the day of the attack, despite her fingerprint being found on it.

The inquiry heard her son Dion had said his mother had shown him knife packaging on 29 July 2024.

"Please, please - I am not lying to you."

She tells the inquiry she does not know why her son carried out the attack or why he targeted the particular dance class.

Ms Muzayire has completed her evidence to the inquiry.

The inquiry is now taking a short break.

Ms Muzayire admits her focus should have been on the risk her son posed to others after his actions a week before the Southport attack - which we reported earlier - but says she did not have a "clear mind" at the time.

When asked why she did not inform the police or any other agencies after her son booked a taxi to go to his former school to potentially carry out an attack, Ms Muzayire says: "Everything got out of control and we were trying to live like every day to have another day where life is calm.

"The only thing I can say is that looking now what he ended up doing, the only thing I can say is I wish I could have called the police.

"I didn't think at that moment - that's why I said I've been naïve. I didn't think at that time when basically he came back to being calm again, my mind became like focusing on him being calm and his way of being, making sure that he ate and then I just didn't think."

The inquiry now turns to the day of the attack on 29 July 2024.

Nicholas Moss KC tells the inquiry that Ms Muzayire was due to start a block of night shifts and had gone upstairs to get some rest when she heard the front door open and close.

He says she went to the window in her other son's bedroom and saw her youngest son walking away from the home.

“I watched his back as he walked out of the close,” she says.

Mr Moss says: “He had not been out of the house alone since March 2022 when he went out with a knife on the bus.”

Ms Muzayire says: “I thought he was going to try and be brave by going for a walk.”

She says she “felt nervous for him” but did not think he would cause any harm to others.

“I'm a natural worrier,” she added.

Mr Moss asks: “What were you worried about?”

Ms Muzayire replies: “Not worried he was going to harm anyone and that he’s going to try and go out, just as a mum and try to do something he hasn’t done for sometime.”

Ms Muzayire says her husband had told her he had seen a bow and arrow in their son's room previously but she thought this "could be used for sport", adding: "I never knew that it could be used to hurt others."

It is then put to her by the counsel for the inquiry that as her son had not left the house since March 2022, he would not be using the weapon for sport and that she was either "extraordinarily naïve" to think it could be used recreationally or was "deliberately lying and minimising it".

Ms Muzayire says she was naïve and apologises.

In her statement, Ms Muzayire explains how her son's room "was off limits": "You couldn't go in there. He was firm about it and meant it."

She says on one evening her son agreed that she and her husband could go into his bedroom to change the bed sheets.

During questioning, she denies seeing any weapons at this time in her son's room, but Mr Moss says this is in direct contradiction to her husband's evidence.

"That's a sharp contrast to the evidence of your own husband as he says he has a clear recollection of the shock on your face and you were petrified when you were cleaning the room together and he was finding a number of weapons.

"He has seen alcohol, a bow and arrow, firecrackers and essentially you turned to each other you were terrified. He can remember the look on your face."

Mr Moss: "Did you see the bow and arrow?"

Ms Muzayire: "I did not see it myself...he told me some time ago. Not at that time

Mr Moss: "Did you see the firecrackers?"

Ms Muzayire: "No."

Mr Moss: "Did you see the alcohol?"

Ms Muzayire: "No"

She adds: "I am honest, I am not lying or malicious with anything."

Nicholas Moss KC is now pressing Ms Muzayire for comments made by her son about poison following the 17 March 2022 incident.

The inquiry hears how she was told by a police officer how her son had discussed wanting to make poison after he was caught with the knife on the bus.

She says she has no recollection of her son saying anything about poison before then.

But Mr Moss says: "Another possibility that I have to raise with you is that you are not being entirely honest about this and that [your son] had said something to you about poison on a previous occasion, and you said it to the officer but you are now covering that up because you know it will put you in a very bad light?"

She replies: "No. No. No.

"There is a bible here if you want me to hold it and swear again.

"I learned about that in the news in sentencing that time. No, not at all."

We're back under way at Liverpool Town Hall after that brief break.

Questioning has now moved to the events of 17 March 2022, when Axel Rudakubana went missing before being found on a bus by police and brought back home.

In her statement, Ms Muzayire makes clear her memory is "not very good of this", says Nicholas Moss KC, inquiry counsel.

"I don't remember being told about the comment [her son] made in the back of the police vehicle and don't remember being told her son wanted to stab somebody."

However, the inquiry has heard how her husband and older son Dion were given this information by her.

Mr Moss suggests that the "evidence shows that something happened that day that you don't remember at all".

While there's a short break, let's look back at what we've heard from Laetitia Muzayire, the mother of the Southport killer, so far this afternoon:

• Ms Muzayire said she and Axel’s father, Alphonse Rudakubana, were “profoundly sorry” for their failure, and that they both wished they had done anything that could have prevented the “horrific" attack
• She said her son’s attitude began to change when he entered Year 8 at school (12 to 13 years old), but that he “became another person” after being expelled from the Range High School in October 2019
• She said she did not realise her son was looking at "bad things" online, despite the school informing her of inappropriate content he was viewing in 2019

• She told Mr Rudakubana to stay quiet about certain information relating to their son to prevent “outbursts” from him - “they were very distressing for us”
• She played down her son’s history of violence - “was not violent with other people, other than his assault of a child with a hockey stick”

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

Mr Moss says that in Ms Muzayire's statement - which is 64-pages long - that there is no evidence of her challenging her son's behaviour. "You didn't seem to even attempt to do so," he says.

Ms Muzayire replies: "Other things I have done which made our everyday life possible, which may not be visible, but I definitely did my best to make this family function."

During questioning, Ms Muzayire becomes upset, so the inquiry takes an impromptu break.

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

In a statement, Ms Muzayire previously said: "[Her son] was not violent with other people, other than his assault of a child with a hockey stick. He did not demonstrate violence towards anyone outside our family."

But when it is put to her that this was not the case, she replies: "It wasn't frequent."

In response, the counsel to the inquiry tells her that this is "manifestly not true".

Ms Muzayire says: "I didn't see him being violent to any other people, like professionals, social services who were coming into our home."

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

The inquiry hears that in a record from a family support worker in October 2021, it was noted how Ms Muzayire had indicated to her partner, Alphonse Rudakubana, to not share certain information about their son during a meeting.

"I cannot remember because my memory is not good," she says.

During the meeting, her son had refused to say why he had not been attending school.

Mr Moss says the support worker had noted "it was clear Alphonse wanted to share this" but that Ms Muzayire was "waving her arms and indicating in a zip action across her mouth" to Mr Rudakubana.

"The reason why I was probably saying to keep quiet is because I didn't want the outburst because they were very distressing for us," Ms Muzayire says.

"That's why I was telling Alphonse to keep quiet, not because I was hiding anything.

"The outbursts were distressing and I didn't want that to happen."

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

When asked about parental controls to manage her son's access to the internet, she tells the inquiry: "He was not that small or someone who would accept us to go on his device and control or supervise what he was doing.

"We never thought our boys would go online to look at bad things."

Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry, pushes back: "But you were being told by the school as early as 2019 when he was 13 years old that he was looking at inappropriate things online."

"By that time we were very busy with our lives and I thought Alphonse was doing some of it," Ms Muzayire responds.

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

The inquiry hears that when he was in Year 7 at Range High School, "things... appeared to be going well".

But the following year when he moved into Year 8, his attitude started to change.

Ms Muzayire tells the inquiry her son started to get "in a bit of a mood" and "isolate himself".

"In 2019... he was complaining of being bullied, he was like any other young boy and then it got worse after he was expelled where he became another person - he changed significantly."

The inquiry has previously heard how her son was permanently excluded from the Range High School in October 2019.

This was after he called Childline and told them he had brought knives into the school and wanted to use them to stab a bully.

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

Continuing to read out the prepared statement, she says: "There are many things that Alphonse and I wish we had done differently, anything that might have prevented the horrific event of 29 July 2024.

"[For] our failure, we are profoundly sorry."

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

Ms Muzayire begins by reading out a prepared statement.

"Each of of us has come to the inquiry with open hearts," she says.

"There are no words that will ever be enough to express our grief and remorse for those lives who were taken and whose were changed forever by our son's actions.

"As a mother, I grieve for my own son but most all for the innocent lives lost and that have been devastated.

"We are profoundly sorry and pray every day for the children and their families."

The Southport attacker's mother Laetitia Muzayire is now giving evidence at the inquiry, which is sitting at Liverpool Town Hall.

She has taken the oath by swearing on the Bible.

She is appearing on a video link from a remote location, and her image is not being broadcast.

She has been asked to keep her voice up as she is softly spoken.