Hero yoga teacher reveals desperate attempts to save children from Southport attacker despite being stabbed five times – as she speaks publicly for the first time

A hero yoga teacher has revealed her desperate attempts to save children from the Southport attacker despite being knifed five times herself.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the massacre Leanne Lucas described helping young girls flee to safety and calling 999 as child killer Axel Rudakubana chased after them.

Ms Lucas had been overseeing a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July last year when Rudakubana stormed into the studio with a kitchen knife, slashing and stabbing at everyone in his path.

Recalling the moments after the murderer entered the building Ms Lucas told BBC Panorama: ‘I just knew that if I didn’t get out, everyone was going to die.’

A 13-year-old helping to run the class, who the broadcaster is calling Sarah, also told the programme that the knifeman looked ‘possessed’ as he stabbed her.

The pair are the first survivors who escaped the attacker to speak publicly. 

Ten people were injured and three children were killed in the attack on July 29, 2024. 

Rudakubana – who was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January – attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as businessman John Hayes and class instructor Ms Lucas. 

Sarah – who is now 14 and whose identity is protected by a court order – was seriously injured but managed to lead several other children, including her younger sister, to safety.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the massacre Leanne Lucas described helping young girls flee to safety and calling 999 as child killer Axel Rudakubana (pictured) chased after them

Ten people were injured and three children were killed in the attack on July 29, 2024. Pictured: The children who died in the attack (left to right) Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar

Sitting beside her parents, she revealed how another ‘incredible’ girl, who appeared to be only about 10 years old, was trying to keep other children calm by reassuring them: ‘Don’t worry, your parents are going to be here, everything’s going to be OK.’

The two survivors of the attack recounted how they assisted others escape the terrifying scenes and how neighbours had rushed to help them.

Ms Lucas told the broadcaster how she was able to get herself and several children out of the room, despite suffering stab wounds to her spine, head, ribs, lung and shoulder blade.

‘I just knew that if I didn’t get out, everyone was going to die,’ she said.

‘He was bigger than me. And I just thought: I need to get some help. So we all run towards the door. We were shouting: “Run!” I called 999 on the landing and I asked for the police,’ she added.

Sarah told the BBC of how she managed to fight through serious injury to lead several of the children to safety.

She said: ‘I remember seeing the girls all like huddling around the stairs. So I remember shouting for them to get down and get out.

Ms Lucas and Sarah were both shocked by how the authorities had missed warning signs about Rudakubana. Pictured: Axel Rudakubana appearing via videolink during a preparatory hearing at Liverpool Crown Court

Rudakubana – who was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January – attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as businessman John Hayes and class instructor Ms Lucas. Pictured: A court sketch of Axel Rudakubana shouting from the dock as he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, for his sentencing

‘So I was physically pushing them down the stairs to get everyone out.

‘I thought that he wasn’t going to stop until he killed everyone. I thought that he wanted to kill us all.’

After managing to escape the building, Ms Lucas said she urged people on the street to rescue the girls.

‘My brain is going 100 miles an hour but my body won’t do anything,’ she said.

‘And there are people asking me questions and I am saying: ‘Go and get the children.’

‘I just don’t know what else I could have done.’   

They pair also described how misinformation spread following the attack, including messages on social media blaming Ms Lucas for the deaths. 

Ms Lucas and Sarah were both shocked by how the authorities had missed warning signs about Rudakubana.

‘It’s so shocking how much evidence they had on him, how he slipped through the net,’ said Ms Lucas.

‘You see the best and the worst at the same time,’ said Sarah, who described seeing ‘the evil side of people’ in Rudakubana’s violence and ‘all the good of all the community coming together as well to help everyone’.

At Rudakubana’s sentence hearing the court heard how the killer had taken a taxi from his family home in Banks, five miles from Southport.

He did not speak during the journey and left without paying, prompting the driver to follow him asking for payment.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said Colin Parry, the owner of a neighbouring garage, told Rudakubana he needed to pay ‘but the defendant’s response was ‘what are you going to do about it?’.

Rudakubana went up the stairs within the Hart Space building.

Ms Heer went on: ‘Within 30 seconds, screaming could be heard coming from within, followed very shortly afterwards by children fleeing the building.’