'Our daughter is everything that Axel Rudakubana is not. She is our hero': Families of girls murdered in Southport reveal anguish in court statements

The unimaginable anguish and pain of the families of the girls murdered in the Southport knife attack has been revealed to a court as Axel Rudakubana is sentenced.

Rudakubana, 18, murdered six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar during a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the Merseyside town on July 29 last year. He also attempted to murder eight other children as well as Leanne Lucas, the class instructor, and Jonathan Hayes, who confronted him.

Victim impact statements from families were read out at Liverpool Crown Court during the sentencing hearing on Thursday afternoon, from which Rudakubana was twice removed by the judge, Mr Justice Goose, after repeatedly shouting out and claiming to be ill.

Alexandra and Sergio Aguiar, Alice's parents, said the death of their 'dream girl' had 'shattered our souls'. They said Alice woke up on the day she died excited about the dance workshop and with a plan for playing with a friend in a paddling pool later. "It was a perfect plan for a perfect day," they said.

Her parents continued: "In a matter of minutes our worlds were shattered and turned upside down by the devastating attack on our Alice. A pin drop that changed our lives forever. We kept our hopes up every second during Alice's 14-hour fight. But, once she had lost her fight, we lost our lives.

"Our life went with her. He took us, too. Six months of continuous pain and a lifetime sentence. That's what we got then and the life we live now. Our dream girl has been taken away in such a horrible, undeserving way that it shattered our souls.

"We were so lucky and privileged to have her. Every day felt like a gift. Alice was a beautiful girl, perfect in every day – she