Taxi driver delayed 999 call after Hart Space attack, inquiry hears

The taxi driver who dropped Axel Rudakubana outside a Southport dance studio on July 29 last year waited about 50 minutes to call 999 after hearing children scream and seeing them flee the building, a public inquiry heard on Thursday. Gary Poland, a driver for One Call Taxis, picked up Rudakubana in Banks, Lancashire, and dropped him at the Hart Space before leaving as the attacker went upstairs and began a frenzied knife rampage that killed three girls and injured others.

Rudakubana, then 17, murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and attempted to kill 10 more people at a Taylor Swift themed holiday dance class. He was later sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in prison. Detective Chief Inspector Jason Pye, the senior investigating officer, told the hearing at Liverpool Town Hall that Rudakubana’s basic mobile phone contained the studio address and a number that mostly matched a local taxi firm, and that dashcam footage from Mr Poland’s vehicle showed children running from the building while the driver looked in his rearview mirror.

Mr Poland told the inquiry he confronted Rudakubana about failing to pay the fare and assumed the...