The Southport Dance School: They Were Failed

The Southport Dance School: They Were Failed

From The Trial by The Crime Desk

April 17, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

Caroline and Liz discuss the inquiry findings into the Southport dance school attack and the failures that led to the tragedy.

In this episode Caroline and Liz discuss the detailed findings from an inquiry into the horrific attack on a dance school in Southport in 2024. They dissect Sir Adrian Fulford’s 700 page report in which he outlines the failures which allowed Axel Rudakubana to murder 3 littie girls and attack many more. From the agencies who didn’t comprehend the danger he posed, the staff who failed to have professional curiosity, the police who failed to arrest him two years earlier and his parents who knew he hoarded weapons - but failed to report him. In short the deaths of Alice, Elsie and Bebe were entirely preventable. Subscribe via  thecrimedesk.com Follow us on TikTok @DailyMailCrime Email us thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us +447796657512 (start your message with ‘Trial’)   Presenter: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull Producer: Chelsey Ranore Editor: Chelsey Ranore Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini   A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. The Trial series uses actors and some voices generated by AI. Their words are taken as verbatim from the official court transcript. Click here to sign up to The Crime Desk's weekly newsletter…

People in this episode

Hosts: Caroline Cheetham, Liz Hull

Topics covered

  • dance school attack
  • inquiry findings
  • preventable deaths
  • agency failures
  • criminal justice
  • public safety

Keywords

  • Southport
  • dance school
  • inquiry
  • Sir Adrian Fulford
  • Axel Rudakubana
  • preventable deaths
  • criminal justice
  • public safety

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Crime Desk, Daily Mail

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