‘She was my best friend’: Heartbroken families of Southport victims pay tribute to daughters

The heartbroken families of two schoolgirls murdered in the brutal Southport knife attack have spoken out for the first time since their deaths.

Bebe King, six, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were all killed in the frenzied ambush on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town last year.

Bebe and Elsie’s parents have paid tribute to them - to make sure they are remembered for their personalities - in the wake of their killer Axel Rudakubana’s sentencing to 52 years in jail just over two weeks ago.

“Everyone says it, don’t they,” Elsie’s mother Jenni Stancombe told The Sunday Times, “that they’re one of a kind? But she truly was.”

Ms Stancombe, 35, spoke alongside her husband David, 36, where she recalled Elsie being her “best friend” who loved reading, using her sewing machine and cheerleading.

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“It was an honour to be her mum. Sometimes I think people are born special, and I genuinely believe she was,” Ms Stancombe told the newspaper.

“Everything she did was pure enthusiasm. It could be the most boring thing — even, like, David taking the bins out — and it was like, ‘I’ll come!’ She was grateful for life.”

The parents of Bebe King, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also paid tribute to their “confident” and “hilarious” daughter who loved making people laugh.

“One of the things that was really special about her was that she was hilarious. She used to make me belly laugh. She would do impressions. She would try stupid accents,” Bebe’s mother, 41, said.

Her father remembered her for her confidence at her friend’s parties. “She would go over to the shy ones and she would literally pull them in. She was so confident and full of life,” he said.

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Mr Stancombe also recalled the day his daughter was murdered, running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road to rush to the dance studio.

“We got there and just deserted the car in the middle of the road and just ran. No human being should ever have to witness what we witnessed on that day,” he said.

Bebe’s parents also turned up to the chaos. Her mother fell to her knees screaming when she was told her daughter was dead.

“They told me Bebe had died when I was standing on the corner of a street,” she recalled. Chris, Elsie’s uncle, was also there, and said he would never forget the sound of her cries.

Her father added: “We had given people Bebe’s description. When that person came towards me, I could feel the blood drain from me and I went cold.

I knew she was going to tell me something. And she did. ‘Are you Bebe’s dad?’ As soon as I said yes she said she had passed away.”