Southport killer enabled by father

Alder Hey CAMHS discharged him 6 days before the attack as 'not a risk'

Sounds like all the parents that come on here absolutely terrified of their children and their violent behaviour. Unsure why you think there are grounds to charge him as an accessory to murder ?

This isn’t on the parents. I feel so sad for this family as well as the families of the victims.

How many times have there been posts on here from people saying they would never report their child to the police?
Matthew 7, 1-15.

It really does seem like the parents had absolutely no control over his increasingly violent behaviour and did enable him - giving him money to buy knives online, letting him freely access disturbing stuff on the internet at home.

The father in particular was always pushing back and complaining against the school and mental health services when they tried to impose very reasonable measures eg to keep other pupils safe. It seems the dad even complained about the ChildLine referral and tried to get the person who made it fired - as if everyone was persecuting his son rather than trying to stop a future tragedy caused by the son’s escalating obsession with knives. Really hideous reading the details there were so many chances for this to go differently if the family had engaged and accepted the reality

Loads of families out there with weird kids that age that do nothing and the child just grows out of it, the family would of had no idea he was capable of that I mean how often does such a thing happen? No blaming on anyone else he was old enough to know exactly what he was doing some of us were parents younger than he was when he did it. He is the perfect argument for the death penalty to be brought back

The man sounded scared out of his wits. Terrified of his own son.

Plenty of people and agencies were informed. No one did anything. It’s not just down to him.

There have been plenty of posters here who have said they are scared of their children. They certainly haven't all reported them to the police. How many have reported their children's drugs habits? Hindsight truly is wonderful

I don't think he should be charged.

It almost sounds like an abusive relationship where he was scared of his son and thought only he would get hurt.

I feel sorry for him.

From what has been said, the father was of the impression that if he was to hurt anybody it would have been him. It seems like the family were absolutely terrified of him and didn’t know what to do. Hindsight is 20/20, and I’m sure if the father had realised he was going to kill somebody other than him (which sadly he seemed to accept his son would eventually hurt him), he would have contacted the police. I feel sorry for the family and the father. Don’t forget CAMHS were contacted and did nothing, Prevent were contacted and did nothing. There is a whole load of people who could have done something but didn’t, this isn’t on a terrified father who knew one day he would be murdered by his son.

Hindsight is a great thing and from what I have read, he was very afraid of his son.

I have to agree that the evidence he is providing is damning. I have to wonder if he had told the police about the knives that the Southport killing spree wouldn't have happened. I do suspect though that it may have just delayed him.