Southport Inquiry: Attacker’s Brother Says Parents ‘Lost Control’ of Killer Sibling

The brother of the teenager who killed three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport has told a public inquiry that his parents had “lost control” of their son and that he feared the boy could kill a member of their family.

Giving evidence at the Southport Inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, Dion Rudakubana said he had long been frightened by the increasingly violent behaviour of his younger brother, Axel Rudakubana, who was 17 when he carried out the fatal attack on 29 July 2024.

Dion told the inquiry that before the killings he had warned a friend there was a “risk” of his brother “doing something potentially fatal.”
In a message sent on the Discord messaging platform, he wrote: “The fights are scary because of the danger of someone dying.”

He said his brother’s behaviour had deteriorated over several years and that by the time of the attack, his parents no longer had control over him.
When asked by Richard Boyle, counsel to the inquiry, if his parents had “lost control” of Axel, Dion replied: “Yes.”

Dion said that from a young age, his brother had shown aggression towards him, which worsened after Dion was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disorder at the age of 12. The condition left him reliant on a wheelchair and meant their parents had to provide him with more care and attention.

“There was tension that came about,” he told the inquiry. He agreed with Mr Boyle that Axel appeared to resent this change.

After the family moved from Cardiff to Southport, Dion said his brother’s moods deteriorated further and he began to experience “violent outbursts.”
“I had to be cautious if I did speak to him because any disagreement could escalate into an argument,” he said. “He would hit me regularly.”

The inquiry heard that Axel’s behaviour worsened again after he was expelled from Range High School in Formby, Merseyside, in October 2019.

Dion, who later left home for university in 2022, said he spoke less to his brother over time, explaining: “He was not familiar with having me around.”

In further Discord messages disclosed to the inquiry, Dion told a friend his brother had been annoyed by him speaking late at night because of the thin walls in their house. He also said there was a “risk of him doing something potentially fatal.”

Asked by Mr Boyle whether he had serious fears that Axel would kill someone in the family, Dion replied: “If things escalated to that point.”

Mr Boyle then asked how their parents reacted to Axel’s violent behaviour. Dion responded: “It didn’t make sense to try and punish him. Also, there was a heavy risk in doing so. We said there was a general risk to life in general conversation — if you try to confront him, it wouldn’t be responded to well.”

The inquiry also heard that Dion had compared his brother to the fictional sociopathic killer in the film No Country for Old Men. Asked about the comparison, Dion explained: “I’ve been told that character’s meant to be a sociopath and that’s why I used the word there.”

He said the last interaction he had with his brother took place in the summer of 2023, when his parents asked Axel to say goodbye as Dion was leaving to see friends.
“He threw a bottle at me,” Dion recalled, “but the door had closed before it hit.”

The Southport Inquiry is examining the background, behaviour, and family circumstances of Axel Rudakubana before the fatal attack that left three children dead and several others injured.

The hearing at Liverpool Town Hall continues.