The funeral of Bebe King, one of the young victims killed in the Southport stabbings, is due to take place today. The six-year-old died alongside nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe , seven, after a knife attack at a Taylor Swift -themed dance class in the Merseyside town on 29 July. A private service is due to take place from 11am on Saturday for close friends and family, while people not attending have been encouraged to light a candle in her memory .
The deaths of the three children have sparked nationwide riots and anti-immigration protests after false information spread online that the attacker was an illegal immigrant. The suspect has now been identified as Axel Rudakubana, now 18. He has been charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade, and has been remanded into custody.
Emergency services were called to the dance class on Hart Street to reports that multiple people had been stabbed. Eight other children were injured in the attack, and all have now been discharged from hospital and are recovering at home. Bebe’s family later revealed that their other daughter, Genie, had witnessed the attack and managed to escape and survive.
In a statement, they said: “On Monday 29 July, our world was shattered by the loss of our precious daughter, Bebe. “Along with two other beautiful souls, Elsie and Alice, she was taken from us in an unimaginable act of violence that has left .