Labour accepts ALL recommendations for change after Southport inquiry finds 'fundamental failings' that could have prevented killings

All recommendations from the first phase of the Southport inquiry will be implemented in full, the Home Secretary has vowed.

Shabana Mahmood has promised to “right the wrongs” identified by a probe into the killings, adding the Labour Government will do “whatever is needed to protect the public”.

The murders of Alice da Silva Aguilar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancomb, seven, “could and should have been prevented”, if public bodies had taken steps to stop the Southport killer, AR, who was 17 when he launched the attack on the dance class in July 2024.

Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford said a “fundamental failure” by any organisation to take ownership of the risk AR posed in the years leading up to the attack contributed to the deaths.

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The Home Secretary said: “The Southport Inquiry identified fundamental failings, across many of our public services, in the years leading up to July 2024. These devastating failures led to the senseless killing of three young girls and violent attacks on others.

“My thoughts today are first and foremost with the families and friends of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all the victims of that awful day. We owe it to them to right these wrongs.

“For that reason, we have accepted Sir Adrian’s recommendations for central Government in full. My department will now drive this work across Government, with the urgency it deserves.

“We will do whatever is needed to protect the public.”

The findings, which were published in April, also included detail on how critical information had been “repeatedly lost, diluted or poorly managed”.

Instances of AR’s behaviour are detailed in the report, including information around a plan to bring a knife to school and an incident where he assaulted his father.

In 2022, AR went missing and was later found with a knife on about bus, admitting to police he wanted to stab someone, the report noted.

“Had the agencies involved in this episode had a remotely adequate understanding of AR’s risk history, AR would have been arrested on this occasion”, the report said.

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It added that his home would have then been searched, meaning critical details about his internet history would have been uncovered.

His previous conduct was also “wrongly attributed” to his autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the report found.

It said this mistake prompted a failure to address his past behaviours.

The report made clear that "it would be entirely wrong to make a general association between autism and an increased risk of violent harm to others", but said that AR's ASD characteristics means his autism "does carry an increased risk of harm to others".

The report added a failure to recognise he was responsible for his own actions was “both unacceptable and superficial”.

Training for Prevent specialists should be strengthened to ensure a better understanding of the diagnosis, the report recommended.

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