Lives could have been saved, had some of the adults involved acted differently. To prevent another Southport, parents must feel able to seek help
It was shortly before Axel Rudakubana left the house that his mother is thought to have found the discarded packaging for a knife.
His parents already knew that their 17-year-old son was ordering weapons by post; that he was watching graphic online footage of atrocities and had previously attacked a boy against whom he had a grievance. At home, his behaviour was so threatening that his own family walked on eggshells. But even though the only times their reclusive son had voluntarily left the house in the previous two years were with violence in mind, they still didn’t call the police when they realised he was gone.
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Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist
