This chilling unseen footage shows Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana walking up the stairs of a community centre to launch his stabbing rampage.
The 18-year-old is seen in dashcam video from a taxi calmly walking through an open door into the town’s Hart Space building before slowly climbing the first few steps.
Moments later he burst into a Taylor Swift-themed dance class while they were taking part in a bracelet-making session before killing Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, Bebe King, 6, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9.
More new footage from a BBC Panorama documentary shows Rudakubana being pursued by a taxi driver over his unpaid fare while he walks into a garage forecourt after taking a wrong turn.
Recalling the encounter, mechanic Colin Parry said: ‘All you could see was his eyes, so I approached him and said ”Pay the taxi”. He said ”What are you gonna do about it?”’
The taxi dashcam shows the teenager walking back up the lane as the driver follows him in his car before shouting: ‘You pay now or the police are on their f*****g way.’
When Rudakubana came to the entrance of the Hart Centre, he first tried to get in through a locked door before turning to one that had been left open.
Police body-worn cameras later captured officers arriving at the scene before being told by a bystander: ‘Don’t go [in]. You need a f***ing gun mate. He’s got a f***ing knife.’
Axel Rudakubana is seen in dashcam video from a taxi calmly walking through an open door into the Hart Space building before slowly climbing the first few steps
Earlier, the 18-year-old was filmed on a taxi dashcam as the driver pursued him over an unpaid fare
The murderer pictured in a police mugshot
When backup arrived, the officerss entered the building and found Rudakubana standing at the top of the stairs with the knife in hand, Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Smith said.
Rudakubana was later seen being dragged out of the building after being Tasered. He was then held on his feet while being searched for further weapons.
Rudakubana was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 52 years in January after admitting the murders.
As well as killing the three children, he attempted to murder eight other youngsters, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as businessman John Hayes and class instructor Leanne Lucas.
During the BBC documentary, yoga teacher spoke publicly for the first time since the massacre, revealing how she helped young girls flee to safety and called 999.
Recalling the moments after the murderer entered the building Ms Lucas said: ‘I just knew that if I didn’t get out, everyone was going to die.’
A 13-year-old helping to run the class, who the broadcaster is calling Sarah, also told the programme how the knifeman looked ‘possessed’ as he stabbed her.
Ms Lucas told how she was able to get herself and several children out of the room, despite suffering stab wounds to her spine, head, ribs, lung and shoulder blade.
Ten people were injured and three children were killed in the attack on July 29, 2024. Pictured: The children who died in the attack (left to right) Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar
Recalling the moment he came face to face with Rudakubana, mechanic Colin Parry said: ‘All you could see was his eyes, so I approached him and said ”Pay the taxi”’
Recalling the moments after the murderer entered the building yoga instructor Leanne Lucas said: ‘He was bigger than me. And I just thought: I need to get some help’
‘I just knew that if I didn’t get out, everyone was going to die,’ she said.
‘He was bigger than me. And I just thought: I need to get some help. So we all run towards the door. We were shouting: “Run!” I called 999 on the landing and I asked for the police,’ she added.
Sarah recalled how she managed to fight through serious injury to lead several of the children to safety.
She said: ‘I remember seeing the girls all like huddling around the stairs. So I remember shouting for them to get down and get out.
‘So I was physically pushing them down the stairs to get everyone out.
‘I thought that he wasn’t going to stop until he killed everyone. I thought that he wanted to kill us all.’
After managing to escape the building, Ms Lucas said she urged people on the street to rescue the girls.
‘My brain is going 100 miles an hour but my body won’t do anything,’ she said.
Rudakubana appearing via videolink during a preparatory hearing at Liverpool Crown Court
The child killer is seen here in CCTV footage wearing a green hoodie on the day he carried out the sickening murders
A replica of the knife used by Rudakubana in the frenzied attack that killed three little girls and injured eight other children and two adults
‘And there are people asking me questions and I am saying: ‘Go and get the children.’
‘I just don’t know what else I could have done.’
At Rudakubana’s sentencing hearing the court heard how the killer had taken a taxi from his family home in Banks, five miles from Southport.
He did not speak during the journey and left without paying, prompting the driver to follow him asking for payment.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said Colin Parry, the owner of a neighbouring garage, told Rudakubana he needed to pay ‘but the defendant’s response was “what are you going to do about it?”.’
Rudakubana went up the stairs within the Hart Space building.
Ms Heer went on: ‘Within 30 seconds, screaming could be heard coming from within, followed very shortly afterwards by children fleeing the building.’
The prosecutor gave details of a statement from Ms Lucas saying she had seen Rudakubana outside in a green hoodie and mask as she opened a window due to it being a hot day.
Ms Lucas then described how he walked into the upstairs room where the dance class was happening.
One of the children carried out of the building by Marcin’s colleague Joel was Bebe King (pictured), six, who tragically died of her injuries
Alice da Silva Aguiar (pictured), nine, died in hospital of her injuries a day after the rampage
Elsie Dot Stancombe (pictured), seven, was found dead in the studio after suffering severe injuries
Ms Heer said: ‘Without saying a word, he grabbed the child nearest to him from behind and put his arm around her. She (had been) at a table making a bracelet.
‘Then he moved to a second child, then a third. He moved quickly through the room without saying anything.
‘It was only when she (Ms Lucas) reached her and she felt the knife that she realised he was armed and stabbing the children.’
She recalls seeing a flash of the defendant’s green top as he chased her. She was frightened they wouldn’t be able to get out quickly enough. She told (the children): ‘Run away, run away’.
The court then heard evidence from John Hayes, a businessman based in neighbouring premises within the Hart Space building.
He heard screaming and went out of his office to be confronted by Rudakubana on the landing, holding a knife while standing over the body of one of the girls, Bebe King, six.
Ms Heer said Mr Hayes ‘backed away’ followed by Rudakubana.
She added: ‘He followed him into his office. The defendant swiped at him. Mr Hayes tried to grab the knife and the defendant stabbed him in the leg’.
Knifeman Rudakubana, dressed in a green hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and surgical mask on, had armed himself with a kitchen knife with a 20cm blade before he took a cab to Hart Street, arriving just before 11.45am. Rudakubana is pictured above as he waited for the cab
Heartbreaking floral tributes and teddy bears were left at the scene of the attack
Police are pictured above investigating the scene on Hart Street in Southport on July 29, 2024
Mr Hayes then collapsed.
Outside, window cleaners Marcin Tyjon and Joel Verite ‘saw children running and a woman covered in blood’.
Mr Verite picked up Alice da Silva Aguiar and took her to Mr Tyjon, who tried to revive her before emergency services could arrive.
Mr Verite went inside Hart Space to try to rescue children but ‘retreated when he saw the defendant holding a large knife’.
The court heard that ‘a number of people dialled 999’ and the first police to attend, at 11.57am, were Sergeant Gregory Gillespie and Sergeant Luke Holden, who was armed with a taser.
Ms Heer said: ‘At the top of the stairs, they saw the defendant. He was standing over the body of Bebe King, who had visible stab injuries, and was holding a large bladed knife.’
Rudakubana was told to drop the knife ‘and he did so’, Ms Heer added.
The officers moved into the room where the dance class was being held and found the body of Elsie Dot Stancombe on the floor.
The court was shown a series of CCTV footage showing the defendant arriving and children fleeing.
In one clip, an eight year-old girl who survived, could be seen being pulled back inside by Rudakubana.
A further clip showed police finding one child and other dance teacher Heidi Liddle crying in the toilet.
The police officer tells Ms Liddle: ‘Listen, listen, listen, you’re safe.’
