Suspect in Southport stabbings was ‘introverted child’ from ‘normal family’

31 July 2024, 10:08 | Updated: 31 July 2024, 11:20

The former neighbours of the 17-year-old boy who remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder following the knife attack at a dance studio in Southport, have described him as an "introverted child".

The teenager cannot be named for legal reasons, but neighbours have revealed he rarely left the house, with one saying he had seen the boy getting in a taxi shortly before the attack.

Following the horrific stabbing, three children died, and five children and two adults remain in a critical condition in hospital.

The victims were named as Bebe King, six; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine

Speaking to The Telegraph, one neighbour said: “In all the time I have lived here, I have never spoken to the lad. I’ve never seen him out on his own. I think I’ve probably only ever seen him on two or three occasions. They just seemed a normal family.

“They were very quiet. The dad would say ‘hello’ and ‘how are you?’, that sort of thing. I used to see the dad helping his other child in and out of the car. But the lad was never out. It was shocking to discover it was a neighbour who had been arrested.”

The suspect’s parents moved from Britain to Rwanda, and had two boys.

They lived in the St Mellons and Thornhill areas of Cardiff for 11 years before moving to Southport in 2013.

Additionally, a former neighbour told The Telegraph that the teenager had been an “introvert” as a child and “clingy” with his mother.

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Neighbours commented that the boy was quiet, although it's thought he participated at one point in a local theatre group.

When the family lived in Cardiff, residents recalled that the teenager went to karate classes alongside his father at a local church hall.

The Sensai there said the boy was a “typical, normal five-year-old”, adding: “He was a good child, a normal child, who had lots of energy.”

Describing the family, he added: “The dad was just a pleasant, normal guy, and the son was just a normal five-year-old.

"Children don’t tend to stand out that much at that age, but I do remember him.

"I’m sad to hear what has happened. It makes me worry about my grandchildren and great-grandchildren with all the knife crime around these days.”

Helen, a 55-year-old civil servant and former next-door neighbour of the suspect, also said: “The youngest child was very quiet, an introvert. He was quite clingy to his mum, while his older brother was more boisterous and would stick his tongue out at you.

"I knew the parents were from Rwanda, they spoke English. They were an ordinary couple struggling to make a go of things here.

"I would speak to them over the garden fence, but didn’t get to know them well. They were renting here for about 18 months to two years.

"The youngest boy hadn’t started school, but the older one was at the primary nearby. The eldest boy would be kicking footballs, running around screaming, but the youngest was quiet, he was very young.”

She said the suspect’s father later got a job in Liverpool and that she believed “they must have had lots of money, it wouldn’t have been a cheap rent. This is a lovely estate in a nice part of Cardiff”.

A 51-year-old teaching assistant who lives opposite the family’s former home was shocked to discover the horrific stabbings.

She said: “I remember him living there with his older brother and mum and dad.

"It is such a shock that someone so close is involved. I didn’t know the parents well, but if I saw them in the street they would always gesture or say hello.

"There were no problems while they were living here – they were a friendly couple with two little boys. I can’t believe what’s happened.”