Southport was braced for a gruesome trial, we didn’t his plea coming - but what a massive relief

Well, we didn’t see that coming - but what a massive relief to the community in Southport, writes Andrew Brown.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, has surprised everyone by changing his pleas on the first day of his trial into last summer’s tragedy in Southport, pleading guilty to all charges.

In the dock at Liverpool Crown Court today he finally admitted murdering three young girls.

He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of eight other children and to the attempted murder of Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes.

We were all braced for a gruesome trial which was scheduled to last up to six weeks.

I don’t know how anyone involved could face even one day of evidence; let along such a prolonged period of trial.

What happened at The Hart Space on July 29 last year was horrific beyond words.

Forcing the families to sit through six weeks of evidence would have been gruesome.

There was massive anxiety among people in Southport about what lay ahead.

Now we await sentencing on Thursday.

I hope, for the sake of the families, that sentencing will provide them with some answers, and that they will see some form of justice done.

I don’t imagine they will ever be able to recover from this tragedy. How could they?

All our thoughts; all our love; all our compassion in Southport is with those who lost those three young girls at such a tragically young age; to those who are still recovering from their horrific injuries; and to those who are recovering from the huge mental trauma of being at the scene.

The Southport community has been through so much.

So many local people have been magnificent. All those working at the local schools where children were killed or injured.

The emergency services heroes who were at the scene so quickly and saved lives, with so many of them subsequently hospitalised in the public disorder soon afterwards.

All the local people who rushed to the Sussex Road area and rebuilt walls, businesses and homes after the damage caused by the riot.

All those who have led and supported fundraising appeals to support the families.

The volunteers who tended the flowers and the tributes at Hart Street and in the Town Hall Gardens.

We are all proud of how Southport came together after all that has happened.