The father of a tragic nine-year-old who was killed while she danced to Taylor Swift in the Southport stabbing attack is so overwhelmed by grief he cannot speak – and has spent the last days clinging to his daughter’s things.
THE SOUTHPORT STABBING
Little Alice DaSilva Aguiar was fatally stabbed in a knife rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop, dying alongside six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe.
They were among eleven children injured during the ‘ferocious’ scene, just minutes before the workshop was due to come to a close. Two have now been discharged, with five more in a stable condition.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MURDER SUSPECT?
Axel Rudakubana, 17, has been remanded in youth custody accused of their murders.
It comes as the friends of the other youngsters have paid emotional tributes to their lost pals.
Alice’s aunt, Albertina Freitas, told ITV News in Madeira, Portugal, that the little girl’s father has been left paralysed by his grief.
She said: ‘My brother-in-law is in such a state that he can’t even talk to the family. We try to talk to him but he doesn’t want to. He just clings to the girl’s things.
‘We are not going through it directly, but we can imagine the pain my brother is experiencing. It is an immense pain.’
Talking about her sister, Ms Freitas added: ‘She doesn’t speak at all.’
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The family are planning to release balloons in a mass service for her on Saturday at Quinta Grande Church in Madeira. Her grandparents were offered flights to attend her funeral by the Portuguese Consulate.
A family friend of Alice’s parents spoke to the broadcaster by the Southport memorial, where flowers have been piled high along the road that witnessed the horror.
SOME TRIBUTES
She said: ‘I have been to see the parents yesterday, at their home to say sorry about that.
‘It’s not an easy thing to go – we have got kids as well so everyone can know we are together on this. We are here to support each other.’
Also at the police cordon, Elsie’s teachers paid a heartbreaking tribute to a ‘kind and caring’ girl with a ‘super, beaming smile’.
