The Home Secretary announces the first phase of the Southport Inquiry and appoints Rt Hon Sir Adrian Fulford as chair.
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00:00An inquiry into the Southport murders has formally begun its work looking at how to learn lessons from the attack, the Home Secretary said.
00:08Yvette Cooper announced the start of the two-phase statutory public inquiry, which will have legal powers to receive evidence and hear witness testimony on Monday.
00:17The probe comes after Axel Rudicabana was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years, one of the highest minimum terms on record,
00:25for murdering Alistair Silva Agria 9, B.B. King 6 and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stankham at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29th last year.
00:37The 18-year-old also attempted to murder eight other children who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as a class instructor, Leanne Lucas, and businessman John Hayes.
00:47The inquiry will be chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford, a former vice president of the Court of Appeal.
00:53The first phase of the probe will thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it,
01:00including Rudicabana's interactions with multiple public bodies, such as education and social services.
01:06Three separate referrals were made to the government's counter-terror programme, Prevent, about Rudicabana's behaviour in the years before the attack, as well as six separate calls to police.
01:16A review into the Prevent referrals published in February found there was sufficient risk posed by Rudicabana to keep his cases within Prevent Active,
01:25but these were closed prematurely, while too much focus was placed on a lack of a distinct ideology.
01:31The final report for the first phase of the inquiry is expected to be completed by the end of the year, or early 2026.
01:37The second phase will examine the wider issue of young people being drawn into extreme violence.
01:44The next phase.