Tomas McGarvey and Rhys Rosser instructed in Phase 2 of the Southport Inquiry

Tomas McGarvey and Rhys Rosser have both been instructed by the Government Legal Department on behalf of core participants in Phase 2 of the Southport Inquiry.  Tomas (instructed by Rian Chubb and Isabelle Mickan) acts for the Department of Health and Social Care (‘DHSC’).  Rhys (instructed by Rian Chubb and Peter Xu) acts for the Youth Justice Board.

On the 29 July 2024, Axel Rudakubana carried out a knife attack at a children’s dance club in Southport. He murdered 3 young girls, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, and injured 10 other people. Sixteen others survived the attack but live with the serious emotional scars.

The Southport Inquiry is a statutory Public Inquiry and has been set up to examine the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it.  Phase 1, which examined the specific circumstances of Axel Rudakubana and the attack, concluded earlier this year with its report published in April.  Phase 2 will consider the lessons to be learned in respect of arrangements for identifying, monitoring and managing the risk from violence-fixated individuals (VFIs) more generally, the role of the internet and social media in influencing and enabling VFIs, and the effectiveness of policies, regulation and criminal enforcement in relation to the sale and possession of offensive weapons and articles with a point or blade.

Phase 2 formally opened on 8^th July 2026, but the main hearings started earlier this month.  

A final report is expected to set out findings of fact and make any necessary recommendations to the Home Secretary.

You can read more about the Inquiry at: https://www.southport.public-inquiry.uk/