Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Public Inquiries are often places where the language is formal and combative, as lawyers hold witnesses to account, and evidence is dissected.

But the atmosphere at the Southport Inquiry this week has been nothing like that.

Parents have come to the witness box in obvious anguish as they try to find the words to explain the trauma that their children continue to experience.

And the adults who survived the attack have battled with their emotions to give their accounts of the impact that day has made on them.

It’s the first time dance teacher Heidi Liddle has ever spoken publicly about what happened.

She sobbed from the moment she began to speak, until she finished her statement.

Image source, PA Media

Her hands were trembling as she held her script. It was clear that she was determined to get to the end of what she’d prepared, but it was a real struggle for her to manage it.

Yoga teacher Leanne Lucas also found the experience of speaking at the inquiry difficult. She wavered between speaking clearly, and then being overcome with emotion, before recovering herself again.

The two women supported each other today.

Ms Lucas watching Ms Liddle’s statement, and then the latter staying to watch Ms Lucas deliver her speech.

The inquiry chairman, and the rows of lawyers, all sat silently, listening intently, and willing them to get through the ordeal.

These speeches are titled "impact statements", but could just as easily have been titled statements of 'torment' or anguish.

The effect that the attack has had on the lives of those giving them was writ large.

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Lucas has now concluded her evidence, with chairman Sir Adrian Fulford thanking her for her contribution.

"I am very grateful to you," he said.

The yoga teacher was critically injured in the 29 July 2024 attack that claimed the lives of three children - Alice Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King.

Sir Adrian has adjourned the inquiry until 10:30 on Thursday.

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Lucas had a message from her parents she wanted to tell the inquiry.

"My parents wish for you to hear this. One person chose to do this, one person, and one person alone."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

The children's yoga teacher described how, in the aftermath of the attack, she has felt "excluded from parts of my own community" and wants the inquiry to understand that "the harm didn’t end when the attack ended".

She said: "There has been indication that my presence is a trigger, and so I stay away.

"I don’t attend events. I don’t heal alongside or within my community. I feel ostracised in the very town where I built my life."

She said the harm has continued "every day since".

"It has touched every part of my life. My work, my home, my health, my relationships, my peace of mind," she said.

"My hope is that no one else will ever have to live with this kind of lasting impact."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Lucas told the inquiry how she "left my home after the attack and I have never returned".

She said she now lives with her parents.

"While I am grateful for their love, losing my independence has been devastating," she said.

"There has been no corner of my life that hasn’t been impacted by that day."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Lucas steadied her voice as she told the inquiry of how "the online abuse" she has endured since the attack "has been relentless”.

She continued: “I have also wrestled with contradictions in how I am seen.

"To some I am called a hero, to others a villain.”

She then cried again and added: “The truth is, I am neither. I am just Leanne, the woman who did her best in an unthinkable situation.”

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

The inquiry is now hearing from children's yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who was critically injured in the attacks last July.

She is sitting alone at the witness box and is speaking clearly.

Leanne starts to cry as she says the words: “Once outside, in the car park, I realised this is not over. I told the girls to run, run away."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Ms Liddle has told the inquiry: "I cannot remember myself or my life before this. All I can remember is this current version of things, constantly re-living the events of the day, dealing with the overwhelming emotions and fears connected.

"I no longer remember how I felt happy."

She described being in "constant mental turmoil" thinking about the families and their feelings.

"My hope is that this inquiry will ensure that no-one, neither adults or innocent children ever have to go through the life changing devastation that this evil individual was able to inflict on us that day.

"As for the future for myself I live in constant fear and despair, but I hope that over time, that eventually I will be able to begin to enjoy life again."

That concludes Ms Liddle's statement.

Chairman Sir Adrian Fulford said: “Ms Liddle I am very grateful to you."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Liddle continues to address the inquiry, struggling to speak through tears.

She described how she carries "so much grief for all of the girls who were there on that day, and their families".

I cannot find words to describe the grief for the three beautiful souls who were lost on that day," she adds.

"I knew how full of love and life two of the girls were from having taught them before, and I saw moments of that from the other wonderful girl who I had first met that morning.

"I did not have the pleasure of knowing her before. It is over this last year that I have heard more about her, and just how special she was, and it truly breaks my heart to have learned all of this about her after what happened.

Ms Liddle said she has "felt so alone at times".

She said she has felt unable to reach out to the families of the murdered girls despite wanting to, because she is "terrified of being a reminder to the families" and "taking them back to the worst day of their lives".

"Not knowing whether to reach out or to give space has caused me endless torment," she said.

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Liddle has told the inquiry how she feels "guilt and fear" instead of being able to enjoy family milestones

She said: "When I found out I was expecting my second child, I felt a fear of judgement.

"I felt guilt at bringing a life into the world, when others had lost their children. I didn’t feel that I deserved happiness.

"I know I wasn’t in the right mindset to enjoy my pregnancy, and I know that my children now don’t have the best version of their Mummy that they deserve."

She said she has also stopped doing "things I loved" including dance, which she said was a passion and a "big part of my identity".

"I feel terrified of going back to a place I loved, a dance studio," she said.

I hope that one day I can look back and feel proud of the Mum I have been during this time, that I have always been there for my girls. But at the same time, I wish I didn’t have to think this way.

"I recently read a quote from Maureen Johnson, which really resonates with me: 'Guilt isn’t always a rationale thing'.

"Guilt is a weight that will crush you whether you deserve it or not."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Liddle has told the inquiry public misinformation has resulted in "online hate, harassment and blame", adding to her and her family's trauma.

She said the attack has "changed my whole life" and she does not know what the future holds in terms of work, her mental health or ability to live a "new, normal life".

Ms Liddle said she has withdrawn from people she knew and cared about.

"It has felt easier to cut off, than to pretend I am not sad all of the time," she said.

"The truth is I can’t fully open up, not even to my family and friends because it is too traumatic."

Ms Liddle said she I has not been able to close the door to the bathroom since the attack as it brings back "vivid feelings of being trapped inside the bathroom on the day, and thoughts of ‘who is on the other side’."

She also described struggling to put her young children to bed.

"Now, I feel an overwhelming sense of fear as soon as I turn the light out in the room I am in.

"I will lean over my baby’s cot and have to constantly look over to the door. I picture him appearing and coming towards us. "

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Ms Liddle told the inquiry her first-born daughter had her first birthday a few days after the attack.

She said she was unable to celebrate, and that in pictures from that day she and her husband looked like "shadows of ourselves".

"Going forward, the time of year this happened, will always fall in the same week as my first born’s birthday," she said.

"Since the tragedy, I have been absent in so many ways. My children haven’t had the best version of me as a result. No 22-month-old baby should ever have to grab their Mummy’s face and say, ‘Don’t cry Mummy’.

"It breaks my heart that my children have to see me broken.

"I try my best to show up every day and be there for them but I know this isn’t the version of me they should have and deserve."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Ms Liddle has told the inquiry of the daily flashbacks she experiences, and how she "sees" the attacker at various points in the day.

She said: "I’ve come to realise that this is just how my life is now."

Ms Liddle said she cannot foresee her life without ongoing therapy in future.

She said: "During the police investigation, despite being present at the scene of the crime, witnessing first-hand the horror and pain that the perpetrator inflicted on the poor girls, being overcome with fear and terrified for not only my own life but those in the room, I was told that I was no longer a victim, but simply a witness to the crime being committed.

"Whilst I will always consider other people’ s experiences and feelings that day above my own, this labelling made me feel like my own experience was immaterial, trivial or even worthless.

"I felt that this understated the huge mental trauma and suffering experienced by us all and which we continue to do so."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Ms Liddle told the inquiry how, as she hid in the toilet with one of the girls, the perpetrator began "banging and rattling the door attempting to get in, only stopping when the police arrived".

She said: "The girls’ screaming and fearing for our lives haunts me to this day.

"I know that in that split second, my body and mind responded to the most horrendous and terrifying situation I’ve ever been in, one I had never even imagined possible.

"My instinct was to protect all of the girls, despite this, a part of me always questions if we could have done anything differently in those moments of terror."

Ms Liddle said that she did not suffer any physical injuries, but the "psychological pain and trauma" has "fractured every part of my brain and my life".

She said the events of that day will "never leave me".

"Although people have told me this incident is not my fault, the guilt I bear is crushing," she said.

"I feel responsible. I tried so hard to usher as many children out as possible, to get them away from him. I constantly replay what happened over and over in my mind, what I was able to do, what else could I have done, the what ifs."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Ms Liddle said she was "so excited" to be asked to take part in running the dance event.

Her voice trembled as she told the inquiry: "This all changed dramatically and devastatingly within seconds"

She said she "could never have imagined" that "just a few minutes down the road an individual woke up that day with the absolute worst of intentions".

Ms Liddle said that she was making bracelets with some of the children "in a room filled with joy and happiness" when the attacker entered.

She said: "Suddenly I saw my friend and colleague being brutally attacked. I couldn’t process what was happening. Everything happened so quickly, it was just a matter of seconds.

"At that moment, there was no time to think but to just run and usher as many children away from danger as possible.

"The children were running towards the stairwell, when I noticed one of the girls running in the opposite direction towards the toilet.

"I saw a flash of green and I pushed her inside and locked the door, reassuring her and telling her to be quiet."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

The inquiry has resumed after a short break for lunch.Heidi Liddle, who helped run the dance studio, has taken to the witness stand, where she is sitting next to her partner.

She fought back tears and her hands shook as she began reading.

Ms Liddle said: "I wanted to start by saying who I was as a person before this, but the truth is I don’t remember. I only know this version of myself.

"Before the attack I loved my life and the jobs I had, most of which involved working with children.

"My beautiful daughter was born the year before and I’d enjoyed and embraced my maternity leave.

"I enjoyed socialising with friends, making new friends at baby groups, enjoyed spending time with my family, making new memories.

"I was excited to begin to return to work as a dance teacher and teaching assistant and was ready to feel a bit of my old self."

Tom Mullen
BBC News

The inquiry is taking a break and is set to resume from 13:00.

The morning hearing has featured harrowing evidence of the trauma experienced by some of the child survivors of the attack, and their parents.

This afternoon we are expecting to hear statements from children's yoga instructor Leanne Lucas and her friend, dance teacher Heidi Liddle.

Image source, PA Media

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

The parents of child O said "despite everything" she had shown "extraordinary bravery" and has "worked so hard to rebuild herself".

The statement described how they are "seeing glimpses of the girl she once was".

"But the fear is never faraway and neither is our worry for her future," they said.

"We worry that as she grows up and learns more about the world, the weight of what happened will settle even heavier on her shoulders. Because the fear she experienced that day is forever. She cannot unsee what she saw.

"Her sister, who had gone to collect her, was traumatised by the chaos, the screams, the injured children, the hysteria of terrified parents and the paralysing fear of not knowing if her sister was dead or alive. She continues to struggle with those memories.

The statement said from the moment of the attack the family have been "thrown into a world we know nothing about and I have no doubt that our lives have changed forever".

"We are grateful beyond words that our daughter is still with us," they said.

Concluding the statement, Ms Ryan-Donnelly said: "Her innocence was stolen that day. And although he took that from her, we will not allow him to take anymore from her.

"We will continue, as a family, to make good memories, to bring joy back into her life, and to ensure that love and resilience overshadow the pain. But the psychological scars will remain, on her, on us and on her family."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

After another short break, solicitor Nicola Ryan-Donelly has begun reading the statement of the parents of child O.

They told the inquiry their daughter was a "bright, confident, carefree child" who was "surrounded by love".

Their statement said: "We have always been fortunate to have flexible work patterns and the support of extended family, so we rarely needed to rely on holiday clubs.

"But this particular event caught her attention at school and so we arranged for her to go."

They said, in reality, that event marked the "end of her carefree childhood".

"It is almost impossible to put into words the scale of the change in our daughter after that day.

"The impact was immediate and devastating."

Image source, PA Media

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

The father of child K described how his partner has found it "incredibly hard" to deal with the memories of being one of the first adults on the scene.

He said she can "still see the perpetrator when she closes her eyes at night."

He told the inquiry: "The smallest of things can upset us; police sirens, raised voices, any perception of danger. They all take us back to that day.

He said their daughter now "avoids many situation" and avoids clubs she used to love to attend.

She is also "more cautious around those who resemble her attacker".

He called his daughter "such a brave young lady".

Her father finished his statement by telling the inquiry: "We know how close we came to losing the most precious treasure in our lives.

"We know that in a matter of seconds our lives could have been destroyed forever. And we know this could and should have been prevented.

"We are surviving, we may look like a family carrying on with our lives and we are, but we will relive that day forever."

Image source, PA Media