Father's Failure to Address Son's Violence Leaves Family with Haunting Regret.
A somber scene unfolded at the public inquiry into last year's devastating attack on a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport, as the father of 17-year-old killer Axel Rudakubana expressed profound remorse for his failure to tackle his son's violent behavior. Alphonse Rudakubana told the hearing that he was "very scared" of Axel and had avoided confrontation with him, fearing it would escalate the situation.
As a result, his son went on to search online for extreme material, including violent content and extremist ideologies, before ordering a stockpile of weapons from an online retailer. The father's reluctance to intervene in his son's internet activity meant that he was not monitoring his online activities, which ultimately contributed to Axel's descent into violence.
Alphonse Rudakubana acknowledged that his failure to address the issue had catastrophic consequences, for which he is "desperately sorry." He admitted that he had accepted his "share of the responsibility" for his son's actions, which included stabbing three young girls to death at a summer holiday club.
The father also repeatedly criticized other agencies and institutions, accusing teachers of unfairly singling out Axel for punishment and making malicious referrals to the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme. His outburst was a stark contrast to the somber tone set by his account of failing to address his son's violent behavior.
A heartbreaking revelation came from Axel's brother, Dion Rudakubana, who expressed shock at his younger sibling's sudden decision to leave home alone. The family had been keeping knives hidden in their kitchen since 2019, and only found an opened knife packaging on the morning of July 29 when Axel left the house. Despite this, they failed to call the police.
Dion Rudakubana described his brother's behavior as "very frightening" before he was stopped from returning to school by his father, where it is believed Axel had been planning to attack pupils against whom he held a grudge. The family had found large number of parcels in the living room with neither they nor their parents were allowed to touch, which raised concerns about potential danger.
As the public inquiry continues, Alphonse Rudakubana's words have left many to ponder on the devastating consequences of a failure to address and tackle violent behavior, highlighting the importance of effective parenting and intervention.
A somber scene unfolded at the public inquiry into last year's devastating attack on a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport, as the father of 17-year-old killer Axel Rudakubana expressed profound remorse for his failure to tackle his son's violent behavior. Alphonse Rudakubana told the hearing that he was "very scared" of Axel and had avoided confrontation with him, fearing it would escalate the situation.
As a result, his son went on to search online for extreme material, including violent content and extremist ideologies, before ordering a stockpile of weapons from an online retailer. The father's reluctance to intervene in his son's internet activity meant that he was not monitoring his online activities, which ultimately contributed to Axel's descent into violence.
Alphonse Rudakubana acknowledged that his failure to address the issue had catastrophic consequences, for which he is "desperately sorry." He admitted that he had accepted his "share of the responsibility" for his son's actions, which included stabbing three young girls to death at a summer holiday club.
The father also repeatedly criticized other agencies and institutions, accusing teachers of unfairly singling out Axel for punishment and making malicious referrals to the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme. His outburst was a stark contrast to the somber tone set by his account of failing to address his son's violent behavior.
A heartbreaking revelation came from Axel's brother, Dion Rudakubana, who expressed shock at his younger sibling's sudden decision to leave home alone. The family had been keeping knives hidden in their kitchen since 2019, and only found an opened knife packaging on the morning of July 29 when Axel left the house. Despite this, they failed to call the police.
Dion Rudakubana described his brother's behavior as "very frightening" before he was stopped from returning to school by his father, where it is believed Axel had been planning to attack pupils against whom he held a grudge. The family had found large number of parcels in the living room with neither they nor their parents were allowed to touch, which raised concerns about potential danger.
As the public inquiry continues, Alphonse Rudakubana's words have left many to ponder on the devastating consequences of a failure to address and tackle violent behavior, highlighting the importance of effective parenting and intervention.
alphonse rudakubana is literally shaking at the public inquiry 
his failure to talk to his son about axel's violence online is just heartbreaking 
i feel so bad for those poor girls who got stabbed 
and their families too 
my heart goes out to dion rudakubana, his words are still echoing in my head "he was very frightening" 
this is just a huge reminder that we need better support systems for families dealing with violent kids 
and more effective parenting strategies to prevent such tragedies from happening again 
taylor swift fans, i know u guys are thinking of them too 
Can we take a deep breath now? 
This whole thing is just heartbreaking. The dad is literally begging for forgiveness because he didn't bother to check his son's online activity... yeah no kidding, genius move. 
I mean, who needs to talk to their kid about violent content and extremist ideologies when you can just avoid confrontation and hope it goes away? 
It's not like it's going to magically disappear on its own or anything.
Like, dude, you're the parent. You've got one job: to keep your kid from becoming a mass murderer. 
And now his kids are left dealing with the aftermath of his failure. 
Can we please just get some real support for these families and find a way to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the first place? 
. It’s like they were all walking around with this weight on their shoulders, not knowing what was gonna happen next. The dad's excuse that he was scared of his son is hard to swallow, it feels like an excuse to him rather than a genuine reason. And the fact that he couldn’t even monitor his own kid's online activity? That’s just mental 
. You'd think you'd see some consistency in his message, but nope... it's like he's trying to shift the blame or something 
. Anyway... this whole thing is just really, really sad 
. Can we all just take a minute to try and be better parents and look out for each other? 
. The dad's blaming everyone else too - teachers and the Prevent scheme? Come on, man 
. it's not just the dad who should be held accountable, but also those institutions & agencies that enabled him to downplay the situation... schools, teachers, etc 
. it's a tragedy and we should all learn from this 
it just goes 2 show that even when ur parents dont do enuf, the kids stil gotta step up & protect themselves
hope this public inquiry leads 2 some real change 
. I mean, 17 is NOT old to start looking for extreme stuff online. The fact that the teachers were trying to help is weird tho, Axel was clearly a ticking time bomb 
. It's crazy how he just walked out on his family & left them to deal with the aftermath 
.
It's just crazy to me that Axel's dad is blaming everyone else for not catching the red flags sooner and not acknowledging his own failure as a parent. 
but what about all the other families out there who might be going through something similar? we need more support systems in place, not just for kids but for whole families struggling with mental health issues 
.
. I mean, Alphonse Rudakubana's son Axel was searching for extreme material online, but did the platform really do enough to flag it and prevent further harm? 
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. But let's be real, parents need to take responsibility for their kids' online activities too 
.
. We need to prioritize their well-being over our own convenience