Southport inquiry live: Father whose 'hero' daughter was stabbed by Southport killer tells inquiry how she managed to survive

Inquiry ends

Now that we've heard all four impact statements, we're pausing our live coverage of the Southport inquiry.

The parents of survivors of the attack revealed the "untold stories" of how their "hero" children escaped - you can scroll down in this blog to read their statements.

The inquiry has now been adjourned until 8 September. Barrister Nicholas Moss says there is now a "great deal of critical work to be done".

"Nobody should think that this is now a summer break for the inquiry or legal teams," he says.

"The inquiry team will be continuing to work intensely for the rest of this month and August ahead of the resumption in September."

'Were people not kind to him?' Mother reveals daughter's empathy for attacker

The mother says she is "painfully aware" of how close she came to losing her daughter that day and in the days after. 

She says she and her husband "have to second guess every moment to try and protect everyone" and "put massive scaffolding in place" to give their daughter some sense of normality.

She also describes how pointed knives have been removed from their home and swapped for blunt tipped ones.

"This doesn't remove the trauma though - we still don't use them, or have them in the cutlery drawer," she says.

"Life is full of constant triggers that we try to protect her and ourselves, from."

But sometimes the child "recalls the noise the knife made and the force that felt like punching". 

"Her body shudders sporadically through the day and she looks at me," the mother says.

"I know that she's having a flashback and feeling it all over again.

"She does this often when she looks at her scars. Her scars are painful reminders of how brutally her body was violated."

The mother says she sometimes "gets mad" at herself for encouraging her daughter to accept the scars on her body. 

"She didn't ask for them.  They weren't put there through surgery, or something she had any say over, or understanding of. Her body was stolen from her," she says.

The mother says despite what her daughter carries "she manages to show incredible empathy and so much maturity in her thoughts of what happened that day". 

She says: "She asks about the other girls and how everyone is coping. She tells me it's not my fault that she was there, and that she knows I'd just tried to plan something nice. 

"It completely shatters me to hear that. She tries to understand how someone could do this, to children?"

And when it comes to the perpetrator, the mother says "some days she is able to hold so much empathy and space for what he perhaps was feeling or went through". 

She adds: "What his life may have been like to do this. 'Did he have friends? Were people not kind to him?' She asks me, confused, 'Could he not talk to his parents if he had big feelings. Why did no one help him?'

 "'How did he get the knife? Did his parents know? Why didn't he get stopped? Did the police know?'

"I am left to parent her through questions with impossibly difficult answers."

The mother says she hasn't found the words for these conversations yet, but that one day her daughter will learn the outcome of this inquiry and she is "terrified that it will be earth shattering for her and we will have to begin her recovery again". 

Mother saw CCTV of daughter being 'dragged back into building' after trying to escape - before being stabbed 20 more times

C1's mother details how her daughter managed to briefly escape before she endured "another attack of more than twenty stab wounds to her back and shoulders".

This, she says, was captured on CCTV and shown at sentencing, where the court and public listened to the "horrific details of her injuries and were shown CCTV footage of her being dragged back into the building, after trying to escape".

"That is how she became known in this nightmare. The girl that was dragged back in," the mother says. "But she is so much more than that moment on CCTV."

The 'uncomfortable truth'

Wiping away tears, C1's mother says the "uncomfortable and often unspoken truth of our own reality is that, when the adults left in those first moments, our daughter had to save herself". 

"It is these untold stories of remarkable strength and bravery that are missing when we have heard other accounts of this day. I think it is vitally important that those girls are now heard - so that the inquiry can understand the complexities of this experience for everyone."

Girl who shielded other children from danger was stabbed 33 times

The final impact statement is from the parents of C1, who say their daughter is a "beautiful, articulate, fun-loving little girl".

They say this inquiry "must bring meaningful, substantial change to ensure no child will ever share C1's experience again".

Recalling the moment of the attack, C1 told her parents that "she had tried to find a way out" of The Hart Space but was left "trapped and huddled with two other children" at the top of the stairs.

"She talks quietly of how she put her arms around the girls as he began to attack them," C1's mother explains.

"She tells me with such clarity that a moment came where one of the girls was able to get up, she put the girl's hand on the handrail and told her to go - to get down the stairs - and she did. 

"The attack continued, she was still holding another girl, 'I crouched over the top of her', she says. 'I told her it would be okay'. 

"She recalls this with such purpose and determination, like it was her responsibility. 'It happened so fast, but I helped them, I'm glad I could help them, mum,' she tells me."

Mother says daughter 'constantly scans people and places for danger'

Describing the impact the attack has had on her daughter, the mother in her statement says she is "still hypervigilant".

She says: "She must always know where the exits are. She constantly scans people and places for danger. 

"One time she saw a newspaper in a shop with the perpetrator's photo in school uniform and since then groups of school children, especially older boys in uniform are a major trigger. 

"We have been unable to get on public transport to and from school since September for this reason."

The mother also says her daughter's "sleep remains a huge issue". 

She says C8 "struggles to fall asleep and it is often very late when she does". 

"When she does she continues to suffer from frequent nightmares and wakes in distress," she says.

"Doctors visits are now traumatic, she is terrified of needles, the feeling of something sharp being close to her cannot be managed. 

"She is hyper aware of people she doesn't know, and has expressed fear of men, particularly those who are black, influenced by the traumatic associations she made during the incident.

"This has led to difficult but necessary conversations about race."

The mother also says school has been a "real challenge" and she "often has to leave the classroom when overwhelmed or upset".

"She tells me her mind wanders during lessons, she has felt scared that something is going to happen and unable to focus," she says.

 The mother says her daughter "was once an independent and joyful child" and she "now needs constant support, reassurance and protection".

"I have suffered from PTSD, flashbacks and anxiety. As well as insomnia, sleep paralysis and constant emotional exhaustion," she adds.

"For a long time every phone call sent me in to a panic. Therapy has helped me to cope better but I still have a long road ahead."

'That moment, the sound of fear in her voice and the panic I felt will never leave me'

We're now hearing from the mother of C8, who says she was "like any other seven-year-old little girl" before the attack.

"She had an incredible energy and was full of life. She was kind-hearted, always looking out for others, and especially sensitive to anyone being left out."

She says that day last July "changed everything" after what was meant to be "a fun way to start the summer holidays".

"I was at work when I received a panicked phone call from her friend's mum. She couldn't find C8 or her daughter. That moment, the sound of fear in her voice and the panic I felt will never leave me. 

"I rushed to the scene and what I saw is something no parent should ever see. C8 had sustained serious physical injuries including a stab wound to her arm and a cut to her face and chin.

"She remembers the attack vividly - how he tried to get her face, how she saw other girls being hurt. 

"She told me later she thought it had to be fake, because she couldn't believe something that terrible could really be happening."

'She couldn't even go into the toilet alone'

In the aftermath, C8's mother says she cannot be left alone and only feels safe with immediate family or very close friends. 

"Where she was once eager to go off with her friends, she now needs my support if it is somewhere public or unknown. Simple days out now need a level of safety planning that we would never have considered before. 

"Immediately after the incident, C8 could not even go into the toilet at home alone. She had heard someone say he had gone into the toilets and whilst we know that to not be true, her fear was real."

'Some days continue to feel so difficult'

The statement goes on to say changes have been made at school and child Q  now sits where she can see the door so she can always be aware of who is entering the classroom. 

On a few occasions, Q has been unable to attend school due to her anxiety, explaining this as her "tummy feels funny and hiding under the dining table at home". 

Regular therapy sessions were arranged for the child through victim support and she was "able to build a strong relationship with her caseworker and felt confident enough to talk openly about her emotions and worries". 

In her statement, the mother says her daughter "is continuing to move forward".

"I too have had regular therapy sessions since the incident; this is currently ongoing," she explains.

The mother says she initially took some time off work to support Q and has since changed her job role to one that fits more with school hours so she can be there for her child.

"Some days continue to feel so difficult, trying to process everything happening around us. 

"There were times when I didn't know which way to turn."

She goes on to describe her daughter as a "strong, brave and beautiful little girl who has so much love and support around her to get her through the tough days".

'How will I ever be normal again?'

The inquiry resumes with an impact statement written by the mother of Child Q and read out by a representative of the family.

She says that Child Q has always been an "anxious little girl" who "struggled socially", especially outside school.

This made her attendance at the Southport dance class a "significant step for her", her mother writes.

"It took a great deal of encouragement on our part to help her feel confident enough to go. She went into the venue feeling happy and I remember leaving with a sense of pride knowing that she had overcome the initial worries that she had felt."

She then writes that witnessing children "running from the building, screaming and fearing for their lives" was "the most horrific experience of my life".

"What I saw on that day will stick with me forever, I constantly have flashbacks and re-live what happened."

She writes that her daughter has become "very withdrawn" since the attack and has asked her parents, "How will I ever be normal again?"

"She is even more anxious about not being with us or being dropped off at another event without us. She is scared when she hears a siren or sees an emergency vehicle. 

"She is still unable to sleep alone and struggles with falling asleep. She always asks for doors to be closed when we enter or leave a room, this helps her to feel safe."

'Our daughter is our hero'

Addressing the impact of the attack, the father of C3 says his daughter still "bears the scars, both physically and emotionally, of that terrible day".

"We know that she is only a small way down the path that life will take her, and that obstacles will continue to present themselves along the way," he says.

He says his daughter has had difficulty going to sleep at night, a fear of loud noises, that she experiences flashbacks of the attack and feels the need to look over her shoulder scanning for potential danger when she leaves the house.

"Life is certainly not like it was before," he adds. "Some days are good, and others less so. 

"We remain a strong family unit, but dealing with what happened that day has been unbelievably challenging for every member of our family."

He says that despite what C3 has been through, she remains "the positive, caring, funny, enthusiastic, courageous girl she always was".

"She has no self-pity about what happened to her. She wears her scars with a dignity and defiance that is remarkable. We have said from the beginning that this trauma will not define our daughter."

He adds: "We couldn't be prouder of her. She is our hero."

'My daughter was stabbed three times in the back by a coward'

The father and mother of C3 are now sitting in front of the inquiry team and begin their victim impact statement.

Outlining what happened on the day of the attack, the father says his daughter was stabbed three times in the back by "a coward she didn't even see". 

"Although she didn't know what was happening - she knew she had to run," he says.

Describing how she was able to survive, he says his daughter ran out of the studio door, down the stairs and out of the building on the day.

He says he and his wife have seen CCTV footage of her "looking scared, confused and pained" as she runs from the building and hides briefly behind a parked car.

She then found refuge by jumping to relative safety through an open car door, he says.

"It was troubling for us to see what she had to go through, before either of her parents had arrived at the scene," he says.

Once his daughter arrived at the hospital, the father says he spent six hours waiting to hear whether she had survived emergency surgery. 

He adds: "We remain eternally grateful that we were lucky that day, and that the skill of the paramedics, surgeons and medical staff meant we got our little girl back."

Impact statements the 'only appropriate way to hear evidence'

Barrister Nicholas Moss says that hearing from the victims and their families is the "only appropriate way" to start the evidence in this inquiry.

"Today's hearing was arranged for those families who wanted to give this evidence as quickly as possible for reasons that are entirely understandable," he adds.

Moss reiterates that all the children who survived the attack have been given anonymity. That means that their parents are also being kept anonymous, so that the wider families cannot be identified.

This does not apply to the three girls who died, but to the eight children who survived with physical injuries, and to the 15 children who were not physically hurt, but who escaped, and have suffered significant psychological trauma.

-SKY NEWS