Energy of Southport victims will ‘continue to shimmer' a year on from attack
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King died after Axel Rudakubana launched his knife attack on the Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the town on July 29 last year.
In the days leading up to the first anniversary, their families posted on social media about work being done in the girls' memories.
Bebe's Hive, set up by the youngster's family to support grieving children, referenced Taylor Swift song Bejeweled in an Instagram post which said: 'Our girls' energy will continue to shimmer.'
The caption, which appeared to have been written by Bebe's mother Lauren, accompanied a video of Bebe dancing and playing with a bubble machine, as well as photos of her.
It said: 'It's time for us to take the space we need. To feel, to breathe, to hold each other close. To just be.
'To be able to create something so purposeful, so needed, has given us a strength we didn't know we had. A reason. A focus.
'We love and thank every single person who has helped us carry this.
'I feel her with me every day and that feeling is what keeps us going.
'Her light, her care, her spark – it lives on, and we'll continue it for as long as we can.'
The family thanked relatives and friends as well as the community.
They said: 'To Elsie and Alice, we never had the chance to meet you, but we feel like we know you. Your light shines so brightly through your parents, and we're proud to walk alongside them.'
In a post on the Instagram account of Alice's WonderDance foundation on Monday, her family said: 'We are approaching that date.
'Alice didn't leave to leave us, but to stay forever.
'She is magic, generosity, love, caring, joy, serenity, purity … Perfection!
'Not a day goes by that we don't miss her terribly, the weight of pain is getting heavier every day. And so it will be forever. Now we are living with the beautiful memories and thinking about what tomorrow would be like if nothing had happened.'
Her parents thanked followers for their 'patience and support' in coming days, and said they needed 'space to breathe, reflect and focus on our pure love that only the three of us had'.
The post, accompanied by a picture of Alice in a pale blue dance outfit, said: 'We are also thinking a lot about beautiful Elsie and beautiful Bebe, and their families, destiny brought us together for the worst reasons but our connection is pure and lasting, our hearts are in tune and our strength is focused in one direction, Our Girls, by them, for them and always with them.'
They sent 'love and strength' to others affected by the attack and ended the post by saying: 'Keep Dancing Princess, Mummy and Daddy love you and miss you every day.'
The team behind Elsie's Story, a charity set up in Elsie's name to support other children, posted on Instagram over the weekend to say they would be taking some 'much-needed time to spend with family and friends'.
Their post said: 'We set out with an ambition: to continue Elsie's legacy, to make a positive difference in her name, to bring hope to other children, and to show that we will not live in fear, but with fun and love. We care for one another, look out for each other, and show up when it matters most. No-one is alone in this.
'Our girls, our town, will not be remembered for the events of that day, but for everything we are building together.'
Sefton Council has asked people not to lay flowers to mark the anniversary of the attack but instead to consider donate to causes, including those set up in the victim's memories.
A three-minute silence will be held in the town at 3pm on Tuesday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Gang murdered tourist after following him from party mansion made famous by Bonnie Blue
A gang of robbers have been found guilty of fatally stabbing a Greek tourist after following him from outside a multimillion-pound party mansion. Antonis Antoniadis, 26, was targeted after he left 32 Portland Place nightclub, in Marylebone, west London. Following an Old Bailey trial, Shian Johnson, 26, Sofian Alliche, 20, his brother Amin Alliche, 18, Joshua McCorquodale, 20, and Alfie Hipple, 18, all from Camden, north London, were found guilty of murder and conspiracy to rob. The defendants were taken down from the dock after one of them reacted with an angry outburst, accusing the jury of 'ruining' his life. The jury had deliberated for more than 14 hours to reach its unanimous verdicts, with one of them leaving court in tears. Judge Rebecca Trowler KC adjourned sentencing until October 3. The court heard how Greek printing firm office worker Mr Antoniadis had come on holiday to London for a week with two friends called Maria and Tia. They ended up at the 32 Portland Place nightclub in Marylebone in the early hours of July 7, jurors were told. The venue, owned by Edward 'Fast Eddie' Davenport, came to public attention when it hosted OnlyFans personality Bonnie Blue in her attempt to sleep with more than 1,000 men in 12 hours. On the evening before the murder, the robbers followed a yellow Lamborghini and a Mercedes car before fixing on the victim, who was carrying a Lacoste man bag and wearing a designer Versace watch. Mr Antoniadis and his two female friends did not leave Portland Place until after 8am and had booked an Uber to get back to a friend's address in New Cross, south-east London, where they were staying. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said the tourists had no idea that the young men hanging around outside the nightclub in a stolen car were on the lookout for someone to rob. He said: 'It seems that when that group of five saw Antonis come out of the club, those robbers thought they had found a suitable target. 'So when they saw him come out and get into his Uber, they, in their stolen car, followed him.' The defendants trailed the Uber car for more than half an hour to its destination on the opposite side of London, the court heard. As one of Mr Antoniadis's friends struggled to find the door key upon arriving at the address, he was approached by four figures in hoods and balaclavas. The fifth member of the gang acted as the getaway driver, jurors were told. Mr Antoniadis managed to hit one of the robbers with a brandy bottle as the group tried to grab his man bag. Mr Emlyn Jones said: 'Tragically, whether it was brave or whether it was just an instinctive response, that reaction was to cost him his life.' The victim was punched and kicked and then stabbed in the chest and thigh, severing his femoral artery. The attackers, at least two of whom were carrying large knives, then fled the scene in the getaway car, leaving the victim bleeding heavily. Mr Antoniadis was treated at the scene and taken to hospital where attempts were made to save his life, but he died from his injuries on July 21 last year. The car used by the robbers – a stolen Kia Sportage with false number plates – was captured on CCTV and the defendants were also linked through cell site data. Jurors heard McCorquodale had convictions in 2022 for conspiracy to rob and robbery relating to mobile phone snatching and trying to take an electric bicycle with an accomplice. When police searched his home they found a machete, a Zombie knife and two balaclavas. Both McCorquodale and Johnson denied being present at the time of the murder, saying they left earlier that evening. Within days of the murder, Johnson and his girlfriend had taken a flight to Cancun in Mexico and booked into an all-inclusive hotel resort and spa. They failed to return on their scheduled flight back to Gatwick on July 24. Four days later, police were waiting at Gatwick airport and they boarded a flight that arrived from Madrid to arrest Johnson on suspicion of murder. Johnson had a conviction for possessing a knife in Camden High Street in 2015, and a machete and balaclava were found at his home. The court heard Sofian Alliche had a previous conviction for robbing a man on Regent's Canal towpath in 2019. In a search of the Alliche brothers' home, officers seized two balaclavas, a Louis Vuitton man bag, a large sword and drug paraphernalia. Amin Alliche admitted being the driver but claimed he did not leave the car at the scene of the murder, as did his sibling Sofian. Hipple admitted leaving the car in New Cross but claimed to be unaware of the robbery and had only taken a mobile phone in an opportunistic theft. Jurors heard he had a conviction in 2022 for possessing an offensive weapon in public relating to a police stop in which he was found with a knife in a sheath tucked into his waistband. Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn, Specialist Crime South, said: 'Antonis had been visiting from Greece with friends. Very tragically he never made it home to his family. 'This was a particularly challenging and complex case given the lack of CCTV at the scene and the movement of the vehicle, which had been driven by the defendants continuously throughout the night of July 6 and into the following afternoon. 'I would like to thank in particular Antonis' friends, who had witnessed his brutal murder and returned to the UK to give their evidence. 'I would also like to thank the witnesses who came forward and helped us to understand what had happened to Antonis. 'I am pleased our concerted efforts to find those responsible has enabled us to achieve justice for Antonis' loved ones, family, and friends.'
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
Labour's taken state spying of social media to whole new level – leaked emails read like their from dictatorship not UK
THE Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok has often aroused fears that personal data collected on its users could end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. What fewer people imagined was that our own Government would try to use TikTok in order to police speech in Britain. Yet that is exactly what has happened. 7 7 7 Leaked emails show that a shady branch of government known as the National Security Online Information Team has been leaning on TikTok to suppress content that is critical of official migration and criminal justice policy. On several occasions during the riots which followed the Southport murders a year ago, the unit approached TikTok requesting that it 'assess' some posts made by its users — effectively a crude instruction to suppress what they were saying. Legitimate debate Britain, like every other country, operates security services that spy on terrorists who are plotting atrocities as well as organisations involved in propagating serious public disorder. Were a government organisation to prevent a bomb attack which could have killed dozens of people, no one would be too bothered about how it had obtained the vital information. But the emails show activity which goes far beyond the demands of national security. In one case, officials drew TikTok's attention to a post that suggested a large number of migrants were 'undocumented fighting age males'. Another suggested that TikTok take a look at users who spread 'concerning narratives about the police and a two-tier system [of justice] '. I am sure the police and courts will defend themselves robustly against a charge of operating two-tier justice, but whether or not you think they are doing this, it is a perfectly legitimate area for public debate, just as is the question of whether ethnic minorities suffer disadvantage in the workplace, schools, hospitals and so on. Those who made online accusations of a disproportionate response by the police towards protesters, and who dubbed our Prime Minister 'two-tier Keir', had good reason for raising their concerns. Ten days before the Southport murders, the Harehills area of Leeds erupted into rioting after children from a Roma family were taken into care. Protesters descend on Canary Wharf migrant hotel as police surround building amid fears over 'summer of riots' Days later there was a machete fight on Southend seafront. Keir Starmer had little to say about those grim developments, yet went into overdrive when protesters took to the streets following the Southport riots. True, there were plenty of thugs among them, but to insinuate that all protesters were driven by nothing more than 'far-right hatred' was outrageous. I am not going to defend Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for 31 months for remarks she made in the wake of the Southport killings — her words read like a pretty clear incitement to violence even if she did not intend them to. But it is perfectly reasonable to question whether her punishment was consistent with the treatment handed out to extreme Islamist preachers and Irish Republican sympathisers. Take the Prevent programme, which was set up by the Blair government specifically to deal with the threat of Islamist terrorism in the wake of the 2005 Tube bombings. 7 7 7 Over time it seems to have become more concerned with the far right. Nineteen per cent of those reported to the programme in the year ending March 2024 were recorded as supporting a far right ideology, against only 13 per cent with Islamist ideology — in spite of the latter being responsible for far more terror attacks and killings than the former over the past two decades. For Government officials to try to stop us discussing these matters is something you might associate more with a dictatorship than with British democracy. We have a human rights lawyer as PM, but where is he when it comes to defending our long-held right to free expression? Labour, however, has taken state surveillance of social media to a new level To be fair to Starmer, it is not just his government that has been trying to silence its critics. The National Security Online Information Team was derived from a body set up during Covid to try to gag critics of vaccines and lockdown. The Online Safety Act, which places obligations on social media companies to police content — and which the Government has used to put pressure on TikTok and other companies — was the brainchild of the last Conservative government. Deep concerns Labour, however, has taken state surveillance of social media to a new level. Particularly disgraceful was Technology Secretary Peter Kyle's attempt this week to claim that Nigel Farage was on the side of Jimmy Savile for daring to criticise the Online Safety Act. To listen to Kyle you would think the act was about nothing other than age verification for users of online pornography (not that Savile used the internet to abuse his victims). There are many people, myself included, who support the age verification measures but who have deep concerns about the act's other provisions, in particular its demand that technologies companies act against anything that could fall under the vague definition of being 'harmful to children'. Even the day's news could be deemed harmful to children if it upsets their immature sensibilities. The trouble is that the Online Safety Act was pushed through on the back of emotional propaganda, with few people realising the dark and disturbing ways in which it could be used to silence any of us. We are belatedly realising that now. 7
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
I forgave my partner for affair with my best pal eight years ago – but I still can't forget it or move on
DEAR DEIDRE: A BLACK lace bra was all the evidence I needed that my wife was having an affair with my best friend. His wife told me what was going on after she found the underwear stuffed down the side of her bed. When she told me the bra size, my blood ran cold as I realised it was the same size my wife wore. This was eight years ago but I still can't forget it or move on. I'm a man of 42 and have been with my partner for 15 years. She's 37. Our relationship was great until I got a job where I worked in the US for several months of the year. When I was in Los Angeles, the time difference made it hard for us to communicate, and my partner told me she felt lonely in the evenings. She started going out with her friends more — at least, that's what she told me. At the time, I trusted her. But a few weeks before I returned home, I got a message from my best friend's wife asking me to call. When we FaceTimed, she was in bits. She said my wife had been spending a lot of time with her husband. My partner hadn't told me about this — which seemed suspicious in itself. Then my friend's wife said she had been changing their bed when she found a lacy black bra tucked under the mattress. Spotting the signs your partner is cheating She said my partner was the only woman who had visited her house and told me the bra size. When I came home, I confronted my partner and my best friend individually. They both said I was paranoid. Soon after, my best friend's marriage broke up. Our friendship has never been the same. I have tried to forget what happened, to forgive my partner and carry on with our life together but it still troubles me to this day. What do you advise I should do? DEIDRE SAYS: The evidence was circumstantial but your gut told you the two people closest to you had cheated. As they both denied it, you chose to try to forgive and forget. Unfortunately, eight years later, it's clear that you haven't been able to do that. Try talking to your partner again. Ask her to be honest so you can put this issue to bed once and for all. First, think about how you will react if she finally admits to an affair, and whether you would want to break up or simply need the truth for closure. Having couples counselling would be wise, so you can deal with this in a safe environment. Contact (020 7380 1975) for an appointment. My support pack, Cheating, Can You Get Over It?, should help. THANK YOU FOR HELPING AS LOAN LEFT ME SUICIDAL DEAR DEIDRE: AFTER I took out a loan that I couldn't afford to pay back, I became scared to open my front door in case debt collectors turned up. When I first saw the loan advertised online, it seemed like the answer to my prayers. But the interest rate was high and when my circumstances changed, I couldn't keep making the monthly repayments. I'm a 53-year-old single woman. I was so stressed, it was making me ill. I couldn't sleep or eat and sometimes I felt suicidal. You told me that no amount of money owed was worth ending my life over and gave me details of the Samaritans ( 116 123). You praised me for asking for help and advised me to see my GP. You suggested I read your support packs, Solving Debt Problems and Family Finances, and recommended I contact the charity Step Change ( for debt solutions. I took your advice and made an appointment with my doctor. She told me not to look at my bank account every day, to help with stress. I also got advice from a debt charity. Six months on, I have finally finished paying my loan. I won't ever take out another one again! Thank you for supporting me through a stressful time. Well done on paying off your loan. It must be a huge relief for you not to owe any more money. I'm glad I could help. DEAR DEIDRE: EVEN though I've been with my husband for 20 years, he still talks about his teenage sweetheart – and I can't compete. They had a child together when they were 18, but my husband had no contact with his son or the boy's mother for almost four decades. In the meantime, we met, married and had two children. I'm 49 and he's 57. However, a few months ago, his son got in touch out of the blue to say his mother had died. Since then, my husband has become obsessed with his dead ex. He plays 'their song' – the track they danced to at a school party – looks back through old photos, and has even told his son his mum was the love of his life. They were, he says, just too young for it to work. He doesn't seem to care what impact this is having on me. It really hurts. It feels like our whole life together has meant nothing to him, that I'm second best. He says I'm being ridiculous and he loves me. But I'm on the brink of leaving because it's all too painful. Why is he acting like this? DEIDRE SAYS: It sounds like your husband is finding it difficult to deal with the death of his first love, and the reappearance of his son. He may be feeling a complicated combination of emotions – grief, regret, guilt, nostalgia for his youth – feelings he has never dealt with, which he is now trying to work through. That's not an excuse for his selfish behaviour towards you, but it might explain it. Be patient with him. It doesn't mean he doesn't love you. Try to be supportive and give him time to deal with this, but be honest about how hard this is for you. Encourage him to seek bereavement counselling. My support pack, Coping With Bereavement, has details of how to go about this. TEENAGE TROUBLES DEAR DEIDRE: I MOVED to Scotland to be with my boyfriend but now I miss home so much I'm having doubts about our relationship. We met in London but he's got a job in Edinburgh. We didn't want to be apart, so I agreed to go with him. He's 21 and I'm 19. I love him but after six months here, I'm so lonely and isolated, away from all my friends and family. We're arguing a lot and I'm scared we'll end up splitting. But it's too far for a long-distance relationship. DEIDRE SAYS: Building a life in a new place is hard. Tell him how you feel. You moved for him, so he needs to make an effort to help you make friends. Check out local groups and meet-ups. My support pack, Feeling Lonely?, should help, too. Also, invite your friends and family to stay and plan regular trips back home. NO DESIRE TO ROMP WITH WIFE DEAR DEIDRE: SEX with my wife is a total flop – even though I have no problem keeping an erection when I'm pleasuring myself. For some reason, I just have no desire to be intimate with her any more. We're both upset about it. Now I'm wondering if I should find another woman online to test out what happens if I try to have sex. I'm 56, my wife is 48, we have been married for 20 years and have three children. Until last year, I had a high sex drive and we made love frequently. But my libido has gradually disappeared to the point that I can't get or maintain an erection when we want to get physically intimate. Even taking Viagra didn't help. But masturbating isn't a problem. Trying sex with another woman would clarify if the issue is with my relationship. But I'd feel guilty. I love my wife and don't want to cheat. How can I resolve this? DEIDRE SAYS: Finding another woman for sex is not the answer. The guilt could well affect your ability to perform – and it's wrong to use a person to diagnose your issue. If you can masturbate to climax, it seems likely your problem is psychological. And the more you worry about your erections disappearing, the more likely this is to happen. My support pack, Solving Erection Problems, has more information on this, and how to get help. You and your wife need to discuss what's happening and find if there is a deeper, perhaps unacknowledged, problem in your relationship. Couples counselling may be worth pursuing. See my support pack, How Counselling Can Help.
