The parents of the Southport killer took delivery of a number of machetes and knives, which they tried to hide from him, the inquiry into the stabbings has been told.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Stancombe, seven, were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed class on 29 July last year by Axel Rudakubana, who was jailed for a minimum of 52 years.
He seriously injured eight more girls and two adults who had tried to stop him.
Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry into the killings, said the purchase of weapons by Rudakubana – referred to by the inquiry throughout as AR – is “important because it will highlight vulnerabilities in the law against the purchase of knives, crossbows and machetes”.
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Killer ‘used dad’s details to order knife’
On the purchase of weapons, Mr Moss said it is “also important because it is one significant factor in the questions which we need to explore with his family, particularly his parents”, asking “What did they know of the weapons purchases?”
The inquiry was told that his father or mother appeared to have taken delivery of the knife that was used in the attack, and that it was ordered via Amazon under an IP address suggesting the use of a Virtual Private Network.
Rudakubana used his father’s details instead of his own when ordering the knife, which was approved by Amazon because the name and address provided were those of an adult and matched up with credit check agency information.
Mr Moss said the package was shipped to an “Ax Rud” at his home address near Southport, arriving at around 5.40pm on 15 July 2024.
Ring camera footage from the property of Rudakubana’s next-door neighbour showed the delivery, but the recipient could not be seen.
The driver entered the recipient’s year of birth as 1978 and confirmed that they appeared to be over the age of 25.
Rudakubana’s father’s date of birth is in 1975, and his mother’s is in 1972, Mr Moss told the hearing.
‘Parents accepted – and hid – weapon deliveries from son’
Mr Moss then said Rudakubana’s parents had accepted deliveries of weapons and hidden them from him on multiple occasions.
A June 2023 delivery of a 22-inch machete – ordered using the driving licence of a woman named Alice born in 1991 and living in Sunderland – was found on top of the wardrobe in Rudakubana’s parents’ bedroom in sealed packaging.
In his statement to Merseyside Police after the attack, Rudakubana’s father said he had signed for a parcel containing knives that was addressed to someone with a British-sounding name, and he hid the parcel on top of his wardrobe despite his son asking for it.
An October 2023 order of a machete with a 16.5-inch blade – ordered using a driving licence for Samuel, a black man born in Nigeria in 1961, living in Uxbridge – was found by the police after Rudakubana’s prosecution, still in its packaging and unopened.
Rudakubana ordered a third machete that month, called a Kukri Congo 488 JKR with a blade length of 30.5cm from Huntingandknives.co.uk, again using Samuel’s driving licence.
That machete was found in the search of Rudakubana’s home in a black holdall under the bunk beds in his bedroom.
‘Parents scared of Rudakubana’s behaviour’
The inquiry heard that Rudakubana’s parents had a “fear” of their son’s response if they asked him questions about packages or attempted to tidy his room.
Mr Moss said they were scared that he may be violent towards them, towards his older brother or cause damage to the house, and that they had noticed a “marked deterioration” in his behaviour after being excluded from the Range School for possessing a knife in 2019.
“However, it may be said to be apparent that AR’s parents were aware of other aspects of AR’s conduct that might have been expected to give rise to a concern,” he added.
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The inquiry has asked Rudakubana’s parents about any steps that they took to recover knives from their son, and whether they considered reporting the incident to the police or any other agency.
The inquiry continues.
