Leanne Lucas, the teacher who was seriously injured while trying to protect children during the July 29, 2024, knife attack at a Taylor Swift–themed dance class in Southport, told a public inquiry on Wednesday that she has been ostracised by parts of the community where she had "built a life."
Lucas, 36, said she had been both praised and vilified after the attack, and that online abuse and local reactions had left her feeling "exposed, criticised and unsafe". She told the inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall that she had avoided town events because her presence was believed by some to be a trigger for children who survived the attack.
Three young girls — Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9; Bebe King, 6; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7 — were killed when Axel Rudakubana attacked the Taylor Swift–themed summer club. Rudakubana admitted murder and was jailed in January at Liverpool Crown Court with a minimum term of 52 years.
Lucas said her physical scars have healed but that her psychological injuries remain "raw." She has been unable to return to her primary school teaching post or to teach yoga, and said she has not been able to live alone since the attack, moving back in with her parents. She told the inquiry she had qualified as a counsellor and started a campaign against knife crime but that the harm did not end with the attack itself.
"It is every day since," she said. "It has touched every part of my life — my work, my home, my health, my relationships, my peace of mind. My hope is that no one else will ever have to live with this kind of lasting impact."
In a written statement read to the inquiry, Lucas said she had struggled with whether to make the testimony because she did not want to appear to compete with the suffering of the bereaved families. "The truth is, we are all hurting, each in our own way," she said.
The inquiry, chaired by retired judge Sir Adrian Fulford, is examining whether agencies that had contact with Rudakubana — including the police, courts, the NHS and social services — missed opportunities to identify the risk he posed and whether the attack could have been prevented. Sir Adrian has said it is "truly critical" that the inquiry secures answers for the families and makes recommendations to prevent similar events.
One focus of the hearings is whether courts should be able to impose restrictions on people suspected of planning serious violent offences before a crime is committed, and whether measures such as curfews, electronic tagging, internet bans or social media restrictions should be available. The inquiry is not examining the rioting and civil unrest that followed the murders.
On Tuesday, the mother of the most critically injured girl who survived told the inquiry that, while she believed the teachers' actions had saved lives, children were left to fend for themselves in the initial moments after the attack. She urged the hearings to ask difficult questions and to secure "meaningful" changes to prevent a recurrence.
Lucas said she had been labelled a hero by some and a villain by others and that she did not feel resilient despite public descriptions to the contrary. "Survivors don't get to choose resilience. We simply have no choice," she said.
The inquiry is expected to hear from the parents of the three children killed in the coming days. It will continue to examine interactions between Rudakubana and agencies prior to the attack, and to consider recommendations aimed at identifying and managing threats where there are warning signs but no prior conviction.