Knife attack that killed 3 girls could have been prevented, U.K. inquiry finds

World U.K. knife attack that killed 3 girls in Taylor Swift-themed dance class could have been prevented, inquiry finds By Inaya Folarin Iman April 13, 2026 / 11:19 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google London — Nearly two years after three young girls were stabbed to death in one of the most shocking acts of violence in recent British history, the head of a public inquiry into the attack said it "could have been, and should have been, prevented."Six-year-old Bebe King, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and 9-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar were killed on July 29, 2024, when 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana carried out a frenzied knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in the town of Southport, in northwest England. Ten other people were wounded in the attack.Sixteen additional people, many of them children, continue to live with serious psychological trauma. A family looks at flowers and tributes for the three girls who died in a knife attack at a dance class in Southport, England, Aug. 23, 2024. Paul Currie/PA Images via Getty Images A day after the attack, with false rumors spreading on social media — and amplified by far-right figures — that Rudakubana was Muslim and had entered the U.K. crossing the English Channel on a small boat, violent disorder broke out in towns across the country.For six days, anti-immigration riots — which included racist attacks, arson and looting — swept the country, as Southport became a byword for tensions over immigration, integration and national identity in the U.K.By July 2025, a year after the unrest, police had made 1,840 arrests, with more than 1,100 charges brought.The inquiry, which heard evidence over nine weeks, was set up to examine how the teenager, who was known to multiple public agencies — including police, social services, education, and health care — was able to carry out the attack. The head of the inquest, Sir Adrian Fulford, wrote in his report, published Monday...