Mother of Southport attack victim praises local community as she speaks out for the first time since knife rampage
19 February 2025, 08:02 | Updated: 19 February 2025, 08:11
The mother of one of the Southport attack victims has praised the local community, saying the town now feels like home.
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lice da Silva Aguiar, nine, was murdered alongside Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year.
Portuguese-born Alex Aguiar, mother of Alice, said the Southport community had been "incredible" in supporting her and her husband Sergio in the aftermath of the attack and the loss of their daughter.
Now, Ms Aguiar said she sees Southport as her home.
"Everyone has been incredible, people who don't know us and we're not from here and we've got so much help," she told the Liverpool Echo.
"People have been very kind, wanting to help us, we didn't expect that.
"We feel at home and we don't feel like we have to go back."
Read more: FBI joins investigation into Southport killer amid claims he wiped internet search history
How the Southport stabbing attack unfolded
In her first interview since the knife attack, the 34-year-old paid tribute to her daughter, who was said to love dancing, and had started baby ballet when she was 16 months old.
"When she was four, she went to Southport Dance Academy and from then on Heidi (Liddle) was her ballet teacher," Ms Aguiar said.
"She started doing street dance two years ago in the same dance academy but then she stopped after Heidi went off on maternity leave. She was fuming.
"She kept on doing ballet on Saturdays and then she used to street dance.
"On Thursdays she would do cheerleading at the YMCA and the choir in the school every Tuesday."
Heidi Liddle was one of the two adults, along with class instructor Leanne Lucas, present at the dance class when attacker Axel Rudakubana entered the Hart Space on the small business estate on July 29, 2024.
Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January for the murders of the three girls, as well as the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Ms Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Over the past few months, Ms Aguiar has been focusing her efforts on projects to build a legacy for Alice, which she said she will share in the coming months.
