The heartbroken mother of one of the children killed in the Southport attack has told an inquiry: "We lost everything that day. And I need to understand how this happened."

Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar were killed when Axel Rudakubana carried out the stabbings at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July last year.

The girls' parents are on Monday giving impact evidence to the Southport Inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall, where Elsie's mother Jenni Stancombe said: "We are one of three families that paid the ultimate price for that day."

With her husband David by her side, Mrs Stancombe recalled the day of the stabbing, when she received a phone call to say the girls in the dance class had been attacked.

Image: Elsie Dot Stanco

See Full Page