‘We confronted the Southport killer shoulder to shoulder’

Warning: This article comprises distressing and upsetting particulars.

“The only thing any of us knew when we turned up was that there was a child on the floor on Hart Street who had been stabbed and the offender was in the building.”

Nothing might have ready Sgt Greg Gillespie for the occasions of 29 July 2024, which claimed the lives of three younger women.

Called to studies of a stabbing at a dance studio in Southport, he arrived to an unfolding scene of horror.

“I remember people in the road waving me down,” he stated.

“I just could see the look of fear and terror in the faces of the people there and then getting out of the car and hearing them screaming and shouting.”

Sgt Gillespie stated he noticed slightly woman, whom he thought was lifeless.

She managed to outlive, regardless of being stabbed greater than 30 instances.

“I don’t think there’s any amount of training or experience that can quite prepare you to deal with something like that or to process it,” he added.

PC Luke Holden, who arrived shortly after with PCSO Timothy Parry, stated he remembered listening to his colleague’s phrases on his radio.

“The way he spoke, confirming the address and the scene he faced… I could just hear sort of terror in Greg’s voice,” he stated.

Sgt Gillespie stated he determined in a second that they needed to take care of no matter was taking place within the constructing.

“We just knew the right thing was that we couldn’t wait for armed response back-up,” he stated.

“We didn’t know where they were [but] it was that urgent.

“Everyone now is aware of the sequence of occasions that occurred that day – that wasn’t recognized to us on the time.”

He said all they knew was that a child had been stabbed and “the offender was within the constructing”.

PC Holden vividly remembers what happened next.

“Greg checked out me and stated ‘are you prepared?'”

He said he replied with a simple “yeah” and then the pair went “shoulder to shoulder” into the building.

Almost immediately, they were face-to-face with 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana who, unbeknown to the officers, had walked into the studio and attacked the children who had been enjoying a school holiday Taylor Swift-themed workshop.

“He was displaying us the knife, holding it out in entrance of us, blood-stained,” Sgt Gillespie said.

“It was nearly like he was saying, ‘I’ve acquired a knife, what are you going to do?'”

Sgt Gillespie said the youth’s attitude seemed to change, as if when he saw that the officers “weren’t petrified of him, he did not need to know”.

“It can be fairly exhausting to color him as extra of a coward than he already is, however I feel that claims so much for me,” Sgt Gillespie added.

Alice Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed in the attack, while eight other children and two adults were seriously wounded.

The 17-year-old accountable for these deaths and accidents was sentenced to life with a minimum of 52 years for the killings in January.

The horrors of the day have inevitably left an indelible mark on the town, but its residents have united together, determined not to let the atrocity define their home.

Sgt Gillespie said he had been heartened by that response.

“The group has come collectively principally on account of the actions of the dad and mom of the victims who’ve been nothing in need of inspirational,” he stated.

“As a father, the considered one thing like that taking place to a baby after which having to rise up the subsequent morning and attempt to proceed along with your life is unfathomable.

“But the three sets of parents have not only done that… they’ve continued the legacy of their daughters’ names and they brought the community together.”

All three officers have been recognised at the Police Federation of England and Wales 2025 bravery awards for his or her actions on the day.

They stated the assault had modified them.

“It affects you in ways that you don’t imagine,” PC Holden stated.

“My hyper-vigilance increased 1,000% and I was wary of everyone in every situation.

“You begin considering worst case of each scenario you take care of.”

PCSO Parry stated it was “fairly troublesome” to return to normal life, adding that trying to do activities with his own child, and seeing others of a similar age to the victims, had been “exhausting for me for fairly a while”.

“Obviously, it is nothing in comparison with what the households concerned needed to undergo and issues, however it was a little bit of a problem.”

Sgt Gillespie said the events of 29 July last year had been “the hardest expertise of my life, by no means thoughts my profession”.

But, he added, compared with the families of the children killed and injured, “our ache and struggling is the tiniest drop within the largest ocean in comparison with theirs”.

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