Southport Families Welcome Government Action But Renew Call For Accountability

Following the Home Secretary’s formal response to the Southport Inquiry Phase 1 report, in which the Government accepted all recommendations directed at central Government and committed to introducing new legislation to address the planning of mass casualty attacks and the growing threat posed by violence-fixated inpiduals, Chris Walker, Director of Serious Injury at Bond Turner, issued the following statement on behalf of the three bereaved families.

The statement responds to the Government’s acceptance of the inquiry’s findings, including Sir Adrian Fulford’s conclusion that the attack was foreseeable and avoidable, while highlighting the families’ continuing concerns around accountability and missed opportunities to prevent the tragedy.

Chris Walker, Director of Serious Injury at Bond Turner, speaking on behalf of the three bereaved families said:

“The Government’s response reflects significant progress against the families’ key asks, particularly through its commitment to legislate against the planning of mass casualty attacks and its focus on the emerging threat of non-ideological extreme violence.

“However, important questions remain around legal duties to report known threats and how accountability for institutional and inpidual failings will be secured.

“We note that today the taxi driver who dropped AR off in Southport and was present at the start of the attack, but drove away, has had his licence revoked. This is an issue we have raised with Sefton Council and we welcome the decision as a necessary step towards securing inpidual accountability for those whose actions fell below the standards the public should expect.

“We have written to all relevant agencies demanding accountability from both a systemic and an inpidual perspective. There are several inpiduals whose actions fell short of expected professional standards and, had different decisions been made, we may not be where we are today.

“The Government has been clear that the ‘missed opportunities’ identified were unacceptable. The families and I firmly believe that, alongside action and legal reform to prevent this kind of attack from ever happening again, there must also be accountability for those who failed to act appropriately. We are engaged with some of these bodies but our demand for disciplinary action remains the same.

Public statements of regret are hollow if there is no inpidual accountability, if those people who remain in their position continue to make the same basic mistakes, then this risks similar atrocities from happening. Those inpiduals who failed the most, must lose their jobs. Otherwise the public will have no confidence that an atrocity like this will be prevented from occurring again.

“We note the Home Secretary’s response to Sir Adrian Fulford’s recommendation to review the ‘duty to warn’ and are keen to engage with the Government on this issue. The Terrorism Act already places legal obligations on inpiduals to report potential acts of terrorism, and we believe consideration should be given to extending similar duties to known threats involving extreme violence. In addition to a Parental Responsibility law.”

You can read the full statement from The Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Secretary) here: Southport Inquiry Phase 1: Government Response – Hansard – UK Parliament