Teacher fights for life after shielding children in Southport killings

The hero dance teacher who risked her own life to shield children during the knife killings in Southport has revealed she has 'lost faith in the world'.

Leanne Lucas, 35, was critically injured after she leapt in to try to protect innocent youngsters when a knifeman went on a rampage on July 29, killing three schoolgirls.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were named as the tragic victims of the incident the following day.

Leanne, who was one of the organisers of the Taylor Swift-themed holiday class, underwent life-saving surgery in the hours after the rampage. 

The teacher was quickly hailed as a hero after reports emerged that she used her body as a shield to protect children. 

She told LBC: 'It has just made us feel very unsafe.

'My purpose was creating wellbeing events for children and families, and for that to happen where I was, and for the words I spoke and the children spoke, for that to be trampled over has really dampened all of our spirits.

'It left us feeling unsafe, feeling like we just lost faith in the world.'

The killings sparked large scale riots, fuelled by misinformation on social media, in towns and cities across the UK.

The following day after the attack a far-Right riot saw more than 50 officers injured in the disorder, which later spread to other regions.

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A wave of carnage then unfolded in areas such as Manchester, Bolton, Hull, Liverpool, Bristol, Blackpool and Belfast.

Migrant hotels were also targeted in Tamworth and Rotherham - with bins and generators set alight and officers left injured.   

Merseyside Police made a total of 151 arrests, with 107 people charged and 82 sentenced to a total of 172 years and seven months in prison so far. Nationally, there have been roughly 2,000 arrests.

Despite this, Ms Lucas told the news organisation: 'There's been a lot of love come from Southport, a lot of love come from all over the world. The impact has been tragic but there has been some goodness at times.'

Earlier this month, it was revealed that prosecutors delayed charging Southport murder suspect Axel Rudakubana for up to fortnight due to fears it may spark riots.

The 18-year-old, who is accused of murdering three girls during a knife rampage in July, was due to be charged with making the highly toxic poison ricin and possessing a study of an al-Qaeda training manual on October 18.

The CPS and Attorney General stalled due to fears it would lead to disorder. 

Police chiefs feared it would cause further unrest and accordingly made preparations to cancel police leave across the country over the weekend of October 19.

At the time chief constables were also worried about the prospect of firearms officers downing their weapons in protest across the UK if Scotland Yard marksman Martyn Blake were to be found guilty of murdering gangster Chris Kaba in an unrelated police vehicle stop in September 2022.

Blake was acquitted at the Old Bailey just days later which meant fears of a national firearms officer walkout did not materialise. 

The postponement in announcing charges, which came more than two months after the teenager was charged with three counts of murder and ten attempted murders sparked immediate claims of a cover up.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.

He will next appear at Liverpool Crown Court on December 12.