Axel Rudakubana Stabbed Children at Taylor Swift-Themed Hart Space Class in Southport

A stabbing attack at The Hart Space in Southport, England, targeted a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class led by Leanne Lucas, and the BBC and other outlets describe how Lucas and a 14-year-old survivor known as Sarah tried to get children out as attacker Axel Rudakubana moved through the room.

“- Published A yoga teacher who almost died in the Southport attack has described for the first time the desperate moments when she helped several children run to safety, despite having been stabbed five times”

BBC

The BBC says Lucas told BBC Panorama that she called 999 as Rudakubana chased after children, and she said, “I just knew that if I didn't get out, everyone was going to die.”

BBC

The BBC also reports that ten people were injured and three children were killed in the attack last July, and it names the children as Alice Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Bebe King.

The Sun and Billboard both describe Rudakubana as bursting into the studio with a knife during the July 2024 class, and Billboard says he “burst into her studio with a knife” as he attacked the children.

Billboard adds that Rudakubana was then sentenced to 52 years in prison, and it quotes Judge Julian Goose’s January ruling that the teenager would likely “never be released.”

People and the BBC both describe Lucas as suffering life-threatening injuries, with People listing stab wounds and the BBC specifying five stab wounds to her spine, head, ribs, lung, and shoulder blade.

In the BBC’s account, Rudakubana arrived by taxi wearing a bright green hoodie and a medical face mask, and dashcam footage shows him trying a locked door at the Hart Space before walking through an open doorway and heading up the stairs.

In interviews tied to BBC Panorama, Leanne Lucas described the moments after she saw the attacker through the window and then watched him move through the girls by the table and toward her, while she tried to keep children running to safety.

The BBC says Lucas told the program that she saw Rudakubana briefly through the window but “had no idea who he was – or that he posed a threat,” and then “The next thing she knew, he was in the room.”

Billboard

Lucas told the BBC that “He opened the door and grabbed a child,” and she said she then shouted “Who is that?” as the attacker grabbed “the next child and the next child.”

The BBC reports that Lucas suffered five stab wounds and that “Despite this, she managed to get herself and several of the girls out of the room and call the police,” repeating her central line that “I just knew that if I didn't get out everyone was going to die.”

People similarly quotes Lucas recalling that “He opened the door and grabbed a child...He then grabbed the next child and the next child,” and it adds that she said, “I just felt something go in my back and my brain just said – he got me.”

The Sun’s account adds more detail about Lucas’s injuries and her physical response, saying she was “knifed five times while she bravely protected children” and that she was able to “help several girls out of the studio and shield them from the attacker.”

LADbible describes Lucas’s fear as she believed “everyone was going to die,” and it quotes her saying she “called 999 on the landing and asked for the police.”

The BBC also centers the testimony of Sarah, a 14-year-old survivor whose identity is protected by a court order, describing how she was seriously wounded and still helped lead other children to safety.

“A yoga teacher who was stabbed five times in the devastating Southport attack has opened up about the moment she believed she and the children in her care ‘were all going to die’ at the hands of their attacker”

LADbible

The BBC says Sarah told the program that attacker Axel Rudakubana looked “possessed” as he stabbed her, and it quotes her describing what she saw as “I saw him stab a child in front of me. And then I saw the knife coming towards me and him coming towards me.”

It adds that Sarah said she then saw “it go into my arm,” and that she turned and “he must have got my back, but I didn't feel it at the time, because of the adrenaline.”

The BBC reports that Sarah led several other children, including her younger sister, to safety, and it describes how another “incredible” girl, who appeared to be only about 10 years old, kept other children calm by telling them: “Don't worry, your parents are going to be here, everything's going to be OK.”

The BBC also recounts the lead-up to the attack, saying that with the mammoth Eras tour reaching the UK, the summer of 2024 was Taylor Swift’s summer, and that Lucas and Heidi Liddle organized a workshop themed around the singer that sold out within a week.

The BBC says 25 little girls, the youngest five years old, signed up for a morning of dancing, yoga, and making friendship bracelets at the Hart Space studio on 29 July.

It further says Lucas gathered the children in a circle, and one of the little girls said: “This is the best day of my life,” which the BBC identifies as nine-year-old Alice Aguiar.

After the attack, the outlets describe how Rudakubana was sentenced and how Lucas has spoken about guilt and trauma in the aftermath.

Billboard says Lucas recalled the attack in a sit-down interview with BBC posted Monday (Feb. 24), and it states that Rudakubana “in January pleaded guilty to the murders of three young girls and the attempted killings of 10 other people” at the July 2024 class.

The Sun

Billboard reports that Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison, and it quotes Judge Julian Goose adding in his January ruling that the teenager would likely “never be released.”

People and the BBC both describe Lucas’s ongoing psychological impact, with People quoting Lucas telling the BBC Panorama that “I just knew that if I didn't get out everyone was going to die,” and also quoting her statement about guilt and survival.

The Sun provides a longer excerpt from Lucas’s sentencing hearing statement, where she said: “As a 36-year-old woman I cannot give myself compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died.”

The Sun also quotes Lucas saying, “I constantly see his face; new memories have appeared, and this will continue to happen for the rest of my life,” and it adds that she said the impact could be summed up by one word: trauma.

The Sun and Billboard also describe how Taylor Swift publicly responded, with Billboard quoting Swift’s statement: “The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock …”

While all the outlets center the same attack at The Hart Space in Southport and the same core testimony from Leanne Lucas, they frame details differently, especially around the attacker’s identity and the emphasis on injuries, evidence, and public accountability.

“A HERO yoga teacher has relived her desperate bid to save girls from the Southport killer saying, “if I didn’t get out, everyone would die””

The Sun

The BBC’s narrative is structured around Lucas’s and Sarah’s accounts to BBC Panorama, including the line “I just knew that if I didn't get out, everyone was going to die,” and it also includes the detail that dashcam footage shows Rudakubana trying a locked door at the Hart Space before walking through an open doorway and heading up the stairs.

BBC

Billboard, by contrast, foregrounds the legal timeline by saying Rudakubana “in January pleaded guilty” and by quoting Judge Julian Goose’s January ruling that the teenager would likely “never be released,” while also repeating Lucas’s quote with tears in her eyes.

People emphasizes the interview context and injury specifics, quoting Lucas’s recollection that “He opened the door and grabbed a child...He then grabbed the next child and the next child,” and it adds that the police said her actions saved lives, while still quoting her response: “that gives nothing for the children who did die … that doesn't take that away.”

LADbible highlights Lucas’s fear and the “panic mode” she described, quoting her “My brain is going 100 miles an hour but my body won't do anything,” and it also states that the event was aimed at kids between the ages of six and 11.

The Sun, meanwhile, uses a more expansive injury and aftermath framing, describing Lucas as “knifed five times” and listing where she was stabbed, and it also includes Lucas’s broader comments about misinformation and her fear of “everybody” after violent riots.

Across these accounts, the same names and dates recur—Axel Rudakubana, Leanne Lucas, Heidi Liddle, and the July 29, 2024 attack—but the outlets differ in what they choose to foreground: the BBC stresses the escape and warning-sign gaps, Billboard stresses the guilty plea and sentencing, and the tabloid accounts stress the physical ordeal and the emotional aftermath.