Remembering Southports lost girls

Remembering Southport's lost girls

Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar

In many criminal trials, victims and their families can submit what are known as victim impact statements. It’s their opportunity to tell the defendant, the judge and the rest of us about the effect that a crime has had on them.

These are very personal. They are distressing.

But while the news spotlight is on Axel Rudakabana, we wanted to pause to remember the three girls who were killed that day, as they enjoyed the simple pleasure of being with their friends, dancing to Taylor Swift at the start of their summer holidays last year.

Jenny Stancombe, mum of Elsie Dot Stancombe

“We are not going to stand here and list everything you have taken away from us, because we refuse to give you the satisfaction of hearing it.

“We will not let you know anything about her because you don’t deserve to know the extraordinary person she was.

“You know what you have done and we hope the weight of that knowledge haunts you every day.

“The nature of your actions is beyond contempt. You deliberately chose that place, fully aware that there would be no parents present, fully aware that those girls were vulnerable and unable to protect themselves.

“This was not an act of impulse, it was premeditated. You chose that place, that time and those circumstances, knowing that when we arrived all we would see was the aftermath of the devastation caused.

“We were robbed of the opportunity to protect our girls. If we had been there, this would never have happened and the outcome would have been vastly different.

“What you did was not only cruel and pure evil; it was the act of a coward.

“Though you have stolen our daughter from us, you will not take away our determination to honour her memory, we will carry her love, positivity and her legacy forward, no matter how much pain you have caused.

“To you Justice Goose; He took our daughter, her life, her future and everything she could have been.

“There is no greater loss and no greater pain. His actions have left us with a lifetime of grief and it is only right that he faces the same.

“We hope he uses his time in prison to reflect on the gravity of what he has done, though if we go from his actions and behaviour during this process we have little faith that he will ever feel the remorse he should.

“There is nothing that can undo the damage he has caused but knowing that he will never be free to cause any harm to vulnerable children again would give us a small measure of justice.

“Perhaps he will have the opportunity to contemplate the fear and terror he inflicted upon those girls, and we sincerely want the consequences to reflect the irreparable damage he has inflicted.”

Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar, parents of Alice da Silva Aguiar

“Living without Alice is not living at all.

“It’s a state of permanent numbness.

“We can’t see her picture and videos, they take us back to a time when we were so happy and now we’re in constant pain.

“We have her clothes, her teddies and other belongings. We’ll keep them safe and often hug them when we miss Alice.

“We also have the cat to hug. Alice’s cat. Niko misses her so much. We all do and will miss our perfect baby girl forever.”

“We were so lucky and privileged to have her.

“Every day felt like a gift.

“Alice was a beautiful girl, perfect in every day – she loved her school, her friends, music, dance, colourful pens and friendship bracelets.

“She loved Taylor Swift, Billy Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter.”

“In a matter of minutes our worlds were shattered and turned upside down by the devastating attack on our Alice.

“A pin drop that changed our lives forever.