Southport killer saved dance party address in phone to 'remember where to go'

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana saved the address of the attack location in his phone contacts to "remember where he needed to go", an inquiry heard.

The teenage mass murderer's Nokia phone was analysed by investigating officers in the wake of the mass stabbing attackat the Taylor Swift-themed dance party last summer, the Southport inquiry heard on Monday. DCI Jason Pye, who led Merseyside Police's investigation, said that Rudakubana, who is only being referred to as AR in proceedings, had a "basic phone, [not] a modern type of phone that we use this day and age".

Following a search of the then 17-year-old's phone contacts, the inquiry was told that he had saved the "precise address of the scene of the attack, 34a Hart Street, as a contact in his phone".

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DCI Pye added Rudakubana had also saved the postcode of the same location as a separate location and he had a contact for One Call Taxis - the firm he used to book a taxi to travel to the scene of the crime, reported the Liverpool Echo.

When asked by inquiry counsel Nicholas Moss KC why he believed knife-wielding Rudakubana had saved the address like this, DCI Pye said: "He had saved those so he could remember where it was that he needed to go on that day."

Rudakubana murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in the horrific incident on July 29 last year. He also badly injured eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as teacher and party organiser Leanne Lucas and local businessman John Hayes.

During the counsel's opening note to the inquiry, Mr Moss said it appeared Rudakubana had "specifically targeted women and girls" during his attack. The senior lawyer said the event was advertised on social media including Instagram and included the names of the teachers and hosts, Ms Lucas and Heidi Liddle, as well as the age bracket of attending girls and the location and postcode.

Mr Moss previously said: "When you then add in their ages and the targeting of an event where AR may have thought the girls' parents would not be present, it all means in combination that the attack was so manifestly and extremely cowardly."

It is understood that Rudakubana learnt of the dance party after seeing it advertised on Instagram. However, this has not been officially confirmed. DCI Pye said the data which would confirm if Rudakubana had found the information via Instagram was held by the social media platform, not on the killer's seized Lenovo tablets.

The senior detective told the inquiry: "We weren't able to establish what he was looking at. That would have required an international letter of request at the time. We never did that because we knew [the ] had been advertised on Instagram, we knew he knew the location and therefore must have seen that advert but we couldn’t find evidence on the devices that would suggest that he had seen the advert."

Mr Moss asked DCI Pye if it was right that the perpetrator had asked for the "precisely right address", to which the detective confirmed it as true. DCI Pye added "the time of the attacks shows the [taxi] ride coincided with almost the end of the event," with Mr Moss asking if this was deliberate. The officer confirmed he believed it was.

Weapons and violence-obsessed Rudakubana had bought the knife he used in the attack on Amazon in the weeks before the attack. Shortly before booking the taxi, he searched for the Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbing on X, formerly known as Twitter, and found a live stream of the Australian bishop being stabbed by a teenager.

Rudakubana then booked a taxi from local firm One Call Taxis. The inquiry heard in his first call he "stuttered and ended the call" without giving an address, but after calling back the automated system recognised his number and attributed the booking to "Simon", the fake name he had given the week before when he attempted to return to his former school to carry out what police believe would have been a similar attack.

The inquiry heard Rudakubana left his home, with his parents telling police they believed he was going for a walk, and called the taxi from down the street. He later returned back to his home to wait by his front door for the taxi. Armed with the knife which he likely had stashed in his hoodie front pocket, he was collected and driven to the scene of the attack by driver Gary Poland.

The killer was jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years in January at Liverpool Crown Court, after admitting the "sadistic" murders and attempted murders.

Mr Moss previously said the proceedings would be a "definitive account" of the attack, the background and the killer’s involvement with state agencies, including police, schools and social services.

Sir Adrian Fulford, chairman of the inquiry, has promised to do everything "humanly possible" to answer the questions of bereaved families and victims. He added: "What occurred on that day has made it critically necessary, moreover, to identify all the changes that need to be implemented in order to ensure, as best as our society is able, that there is no repetition." The first phase of the inquiry, which is expected to run until November, continues.