The Channel 4 documentary relived the day through the eyes of a survivor and her family
Channel 4 aired a powerful documentary which relived the day of the Southport attack through the eyes of a young survivor and her family. The girl retold her story of the day Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe were murdered by 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class. Eight other children and two adults were also injured.
The minimum term Rudakubana must serve in custody for the Southport attack is one of the highest on record, and is thought to be the longest punishment handed to a killer of his age.
In the hour-long documentary called ‘One Day in Southport’, the young girl took viewers through the hours leading up to the tragic event and how she was excited to attend the dance class with her younger sister.
The survivor, who remained anonymous, retold the day from her perspective, describing how she saw Rudakubana enter the property “in a green hoodie and face mask.”
She said he “looked possessed and not human” before she was stabbed by Rudakubana. She witnessed the killer stab several other girls at the class and explained how she managed to fight through her serious injury with the hopes of getting other children to safety during the attack.
The young survivor shared how she still experiences flashbacks to the terrifying day. She often has to be taken out of lessons at school due to her mind taking her back to the feelings of terror, pain and uncertainty that Axel Rudakubana brought upon the community.
She read aloud a heartbreaking letter she had written to Rudakubana, highlighting that her life will forever be changed. She read the powerful words: “I want you to know you changed mine and my sister’s lives forever while you live behind bars alone.
“I’ll make sure that my sister and I will do our best to move forward with our lives. I hope you spend the rest of your life, knowing that we think you’re a coward.”
The young girl’s mum and dad also spoke to the camera about how the family got through the days after the tragic event together. She explained they tried to stay away from watching the news, especially as terrifying riots broke out in the days after the incident.
The mum gave a powerful statement as she said: “We just wanted to hold everybody close and dear. We wanted to feel love and compassion nothing more.”
News footage from the day of the attack replayed on screen, with the young girl’s voiceover accompanying the horrific footage. Just moments into the documentary, Channel 4 viewers described it as a “tough watch” with some viewers having to switch off.
On X, one viewer wrote: “Not a minute in and this is already a tough watch.” A second said: “I just can’t watch this.” A third added: “This is a difficult watch.” A fourth wrote: “This Southport documentary is actually so heartbreaking.”
While the Channel 4 documentary set out to retell the horrific event, it also aimed to shine a light on the social implications and what it meant for the Southport community and the UK as a whole.
Days after the incident, online speculation caused a raging mob to gather and indulge in what turned into days of riots. The documentary explored the mob violence which erupted in 27 British towns and cities, including Blackpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sunderland and more.
The disruption was linked to extreme-right groups and fuelled by disinformation. The rioters were processed by the courts and sentenced to a total of more than 1,000 years in prison.
