Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford has drawn today's hearing to a close after hearing evidence from the parents of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice Aguiar and Bebe King, the three girls who lost their lives in the Southport attack on 29 July 2024.

Sir Adrian has said the inquiry will resume at Liverpool Town Hall on Tuesday at 10:00 BST.

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lauren King has told the inquiry her daughter Bebe was "not just a victim" or "just a name in a report".

"I repeat: she was a six-year-old little girl with a spark that lit up every room she entered. She was joyful, hilarious, magical. She was a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a cousin, a friend.

"She was loved beyond words."

Mrs King said Bebe's life "was stolen because systems failed her. And while nothing said in this inquiry will ever bring her back, it can – and must – ensure that her death is not in vain."

She told the inquiry she and her husband Ben were not there looking for sympathy.

She said: "We stand here because we want change. We want those responsible to face the truth of what went wrong. We want every child to be safer tomorrow than Bebe was on that day."

Mrs King said her family still tried to live by the motto "Be more Bebe", even through the pain.

"To be brave, to be kind, to bring light into the world. We will carry her in our hearts for the rest of our lives.

"But those sitting here today carry a responsibility, too. To make sure no other child, no other sister, no other family, ever suffers what ours has suffered.

"Her name was Bebe. She was just six years old. And she deserved so much more."

Mr and Mrs King embraced as she finished reading their statement.

Sir Adrian Fulford adjourned the inquiry until 10:00 BST on Tuesday.

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Lauren King's voice rose in anger, through her tears, as she moved on to address the "failings" ahead of the attack.

She said: “All of it - every layer of grief, trauma, and destruction - stems back to the same truth: this was preventable.

"It happened because of failures that should never have been allowed. This inquiry is questioning 22 different organisations.

"That fact alone speaks volumes.”

Mrs King said the inquiry "must not become another box-ticking exercise".

"The truth must be faced. Accountability must be taken. And real change must be made."

Her voice rose further as she said: “It should never have happened. And no other child, no other family, no other community should ever endure what we now live with every single day.”

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lauren King has told the inquiry how the "ripples of that day" stretch beyond her and Bebe's father into the wider family and the "community around her".

"On the day itself, my mum, my sister, and my brother-in-law were with us as we searched for Bebe," she said.

"They were standing with us when we were told that Bebe had been murdered. They carry those moments with them just as heavily."

Mrs King said her own mother's trauma "is unbearable".

She said: "My mum read Bebe her favourite stories while she lay in a coffin in the funeral home. These are memories no mother or grandmother should ever have to hold.

"My dad, and Bebe’s other grandparents in their 60s, had to say goodbye to their six-year-old granddaughter as she was laid to rest in a church cemetery.

"That is not how life should unfold."

She said her sister-in-law heard the news of Bebe's death while she was decorating her wedding venue the day before she was due to be married.

"The ripples of this horror extend out endlessly," she said.

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Lauren King has told the inquiry about Bebe King's relationship with her dad, Ben King.

She said the pair had a "special bond" and Bebe "made being a dad feel easy".

Mrs King said Bebe "had him wrapped around her little finger, and he was fine with that, because she deserved it".

She described how Mr King and his daughter loved bedtimes because they would play "silly made-up games".

"They didn’t need to make sense," she said.

"The joy was just in being together, laughing, and ending the day wrapped in each other’s company. Those moments were priceless, and he will never forget them."

She told the inquiry "that bond has been ripped away" and a "piece of him is gone forever".

Mrs King fought back tears as she told the inquiry "some days he wishes he wasn't here, just so he could be with her again".

“He isn’t one to talk much about his feelings, but I see the truth in him every day," she said.

"The bond they shared was beautiful and losing it has left him broken. He is a shell of the man he once was, carrying pain and torment that no words can ever fully capture.”

Mrs King placed her arm around her husband’s back as he sobbed.

For a few moments, they were both in tears in the witness box. Mrs King sipped from a glass of water, paused, and then was able to continue.

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lauren King has told the inquiry how her "spiritual twin", her daughter Bebe, has gone.

"I am broken beyond repair," she said.

"The physical pain I have endured since that day has been debilitating. For the first nine months, I sat in the same position on the couch, day after day, in between the endless appointments with police, solicitors, and the court.

"The trauma has caused mobility issues, and I am now under hospital care. Everything just hurts."

Mrs King said in the year since the attack she has barely been able to function.

She said: "I rely on others to help me do the things I once did without thought. I walk past people in the street and think to myself: 'they just have a normal life'.

"I wish our family did. A fake smile is now my only smile. I am grieving not only the loss of Bebe, but also the loss of who I once was."

Mrs King said she is "tortured" by post-traumatic stress disorder.

She said: "I replay that day over and over, countless times, every single day.

"I picture him attacking my beautiful Bebe, imagine her fear, her pain.

"His eyes, his evil eyes, never leave my mind.

"They have been plastered across the media for the last 14 months, constantly triggering me and those I love."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Lauren King has told the inquiry her daughter Bebe had a "confidence, a passion for justice, and an ability to find joy in the simplest things".

She said the family had a saying: "Be more Bebe".

Mrs King said: "The impact of losing her can barely be described.

"On that day, being told over the phone by my husband that a man had gone into the dance class with a knife and that they couldn’t find Bebe, the hours walking around in the intense heat, not knowing whether she was alive or not, praying to God that she was...

"Then being told in public, on a street corner, that my child was dead.

"These are moments no form of therapy can ever resolve."

The inquiry chairman, Sir Adrian Fulford, placed his hand on his heart briefly as Mrs King described being told the news Bebe had died.

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Lauren King has told the inquiry the dance class where her daughter Bebe was killed "should have been safe, innocent, and joyful".

Instead, she said, it was "was allowed to become a place of danger and horror".

Mrs King said it became "the place where her life was taken, because of failures that should never have happened".

"From that day, we would never see our Bebe again. She was just six years old."

Mrs King said her relationship with Bebe was "spiritual".

She said: "As a baby, she would reach out and touch my face, and instantly we would both calm.

"We would fall asleep together like that, completely at peace."

Mrs King cried and shook her head as she said: “She was my mini-me."

Ben King placed his arm around her, and she continued.

"We could be silly together. Even though I was her mum, she brought out the big kid in me.

"Her humour had me in stitches, and her hugs felt like home."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lauren King has told the inquiry her daughter Bebe was "cheeky in the best way".

She told the inquiry Bebe's favourite film was The Wizard of Oz, which "mesmerised" her.

Mrs King said Bebe had a "gift for making people feel special" and other parents would stop her and her husband Ben in the street to tell them they "loved" Bebe.

She said: "Parents told me she transformed their child’s first day at school, walking up, taking their hand, and saying, 'Come on, let’s go'.

"At her dance school, children who arrived nervous and unsure would leave smiling and confident because Bebe was there to encourage them.

"She never talked about it, she thought it was normal. But that was Bebe’s magic: she didn’t have to try to change a life. She just did."

Mrs King said Bebe had started to "love" Taylor Swift, and the two of them would sing along to the American musician's song 'Love Story' in the car.

She said when the saw the Taylor Swift-themed dance class advertised it sounded "perfect" for Bebe.

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Image source, Handout

Lauren King has told the inquiry about her daughter Bebe.

She said three words that summed her up were "joyful, hilarious, and magical".

"She was unbelievable. I know it’s easy for a parent to say that, but I have truly never known a child like her.

"She had this spark, this glow. I’d look at her and think, I can’t believe you’re my daughter. I can’t believe I made you."

Mrs King said Bebe was "sassy, confident, and always smiling".

"If she didn’t like something, you’d know about it – and I loved that about her."

Mrs King laughs and cries at the same time as she says: “I loved the fire in her belly, the way she fought against anything unjust, whether small or serious."

Judith Moritz
Reporting from the inquiry

Image source, PA Media

Lauren King, Bebe King's mother, is now reading her statement. She is quickly tearful.

She has been taking long pauses, as she tries to get her words out.

Her husband Ben has his arm around her chair in support.

The couple are sitting in the witness box next to their legal representative, Chris Walker.

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

Alexadra wrote how the thought of "being strong and positive on behalf of Alice" is what got them through each day.

"We know that Alice would be proud of us, so now we must hold onto that thought each and every day.

"Alice should be here dancing and singing away, swaying her beautiful black hair around. But this is something that we will never have. We lost everything that day and our lives will never ever be the same.

"I would just be grateful if you could keep the thought and image of Alice in your minds throughout this process. She was the most lovable, caring, beautiful, funny little girl you could have ever wished to meet.

"We as her parents are now broken from our loss and we will suffer with trauma from this for the rest of our lives.

"Thank you for listening."

Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford called a short break ahead of the evidence of Lauren and Ben King, the parents of Bebe King, the youngest girl killed in the attack.

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

Alexandra wrote how her daughter loved Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, but will never get to see them in concert.

"Her future has been ripped away from her and ripped away from us," she wrote.

The inquiry has heard Alice had a pet cat, Niko, who has been "lost without her".

Alexandra wrote: "He mostly lies on Alice's bed cuddling in amongst her teddy bears.

"We will often find him standing looking up at Alice's photographs on the wall. He is mourning her too."

She described how she and Sergio could tell other people "don't know what to say to us now".

"The awkwardness, the feeling sorry for us, or they are just too scared to talk about Alice as they don’t want to upset us," she wrote.

"We love to talk about Alice as we never want her to be forgotten. She should never be forgotten."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

Alexandra described how their lives were "no longer the same".

"I have flashbacks, nightmares and huge feelings of guilt leaving her there with him. We are lost and are shadows of our former selves.

"We can only describe that day as horror, the worst day of our lives. But it is not over for us, it will never be over for us, as our little girl with the long black hair and big brown eyes should be here with us now living her life to the full.

"But she’s not. We live with the trauma of this every day."

Alexandra wrote how instead of sharing a bed with Alice, she and Sergio share it with her teddy bear, which plays a recording of Alice's voice.

"This is the closest that we will ever get to our daughter," she wrote.

"Our little family unit is no more."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

Alexandra wrote: "I have never experienced fear like it, not knowing where my little girl was.

She said it "seemed like hours" until she found Alice, but in reality it was around 10 minutes.

"She was lying on the floor with people around her tending to her wounds.

"It’s hard to explain the relief that I'd eventually found her but the hurt and devastation knowing she’d be injured by him.

"My happy, loving, innocent little girl hurt by a monster."

The inquiry heard Alice was worked on by emergency workers before being taken to Southport hospital.

"I was told that they would look after her and take care of her," Alexandra wrote.

"But the hours of not knowing was agony. It was a torment knowing she was in the next room, but we couldn’t see her or help her.

"After 13 long hours our little sweet girl didn’t make it, she passed away in a hospital bed.

"Thirteen long hours of anguish and distress for her daddy and I. We just hope that she couldn’t feel any pain and that she wasn’t scared.

" This haunts us both. We live with this thought most days now."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

Alexandra wrote how the attacker "didn’t just hurt Alice that day, he hurt us all".

"He ripped the most precious thing we held away from us in the most violent manner," she said.

"I relive going to Hart Space, thinking in my mind that I was going to pick up my excited, happy little girl and hear all about her day, dancing, doing yoga and making bracelets. But instead I was met with sheer horror."

She described arriving a little early only to find "panic and terror in the air".

"I could see children, injured little girls all over the car park. I ran into the building and up the stairs, this sight was a sight I cannot get out of my head.

"Unbeknown to me at the time, he was still in the building with the police.

"I saw devastation everywhere, blood smeared on the walls, cries and sobs of little girls in fear and agony from their wounds."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

The statement has moved on to the morning of the attack.

Alexandra wrote how they chose an outfit together, and were running late.

She said Alice was "very excited", not only about the dance class but a friend's birthday party in the afternoon and a trip to Gulliver's World theme park the following day.

Alexandra wrote: "When we arrived, Alice was a little shy. She asked me to stay with her, but then she saw a teacher that she knew, and she ran off.

"As Alice’s mum, I really wish that I had stayed that day.

"I relive this moment in my mind constantly. The guilt of taking her there and leaving her there is unimaginable. I cannot express myself in words what I feel about that day, but as you can imagine it's utter devastation.

"Our whole family life changed that day, that’s the day we were broken."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

Alexandra wrote how her daughter deeply loved school, and had a close circle of friends.

She wrote: "Her end of year reports would always say 'Alice likes to talk'. It was just who she was, she was really interested in people and who they were.

"She even chatted to strangers on the street or in the shops, people she didn’t know."

The inquiry has heard how Alice loved to play pranks on her father Sergio.

Her parents smile as the statement is read.

Alexandra said: "There were times when she would put cling film across the doorways so he would walk into them, and there was even a time she put cling film on the toilet.

"Even if Sergio knew of the prank, he played along with Alice just to see her laugh and smile. It always made his day. He really misses these pranks."

The inquiry has been told Alice still "loved sleeping on our bed".

"She would often bring in her cuddly teddies and we would all sleep together.

"We now savour each and every evening we spent together like this. We would give anything for one more moment all together."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued to read the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

The parents described how Alice was "known for her hair" as she grew up.

Alexandra wrote: "She could be spotted far off with her hair flowing behind her, that along with her beautiful big brown eyes.

"But Alice wasn’t the only one who loved her hair, her daddy Sergio loved her hair and never wanted Alice to cut it. It was an ongoing family joke: Alice was never allowed to cut her hair."

The inquiry has heard that Alice got into the TV series 'Wednesday' the year before her death, and would compare her looks to the lead character Wednesday Addams, who had long dark hair, "although Alice didn’t have the fringe".

"She really wanted that fringe so badly. So Alice devised a plan for her daddy, as a prank. She wrote on two different pieces of paper, one had 'fringe' and the other had 'daddy to buy me a Pandora bracelet'.

"She then put each paper into a different hand and talked her daddy into picking one, and she made him promise he had to go along with it.

"Much to Sergio’s dismay she chose 'fringe'. He was so upset but Alice was so excited she could get a fringe and be like the character Wednesday.

"Apart from looking like Wednesday that’s where the comparisons ended, as Alice was the most caring, lovable child you could ever meet.'"

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool

Lawyer Chris Walker continued reading the statement of Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar.

The inquiry has heard how Alice was "very bright" and would mimic speech before she turned 12 months old.

Alexandra wrote how her daughter would often sing and hum along to music or commercials on the television, "then giggle away to herself".

"She also started walking at 15 months old," she said.

"When a commercial came on, she would often sing and bounce up and down to it, dancing to the music."

The inquiry heard Alice "loved people" and was "very interested in everything they said".

As she grew up, she loved dance and "as soon as she heard music there would be no stopping her".