Should the parents of the Southport Killer face civil or even criminal action?

[mids2019]

Listening to the news I do wonder if the parental decisions of the Southport Killer reach a point where they need to face some sort of accountability. I understand that the parents aren't to blame but potentially they could have acted to stop their son and is there not some sort of sanction for this?

It would have to be a very carefully worded bit of law to avoid not dragging innocent people in.

For people who think they should be prosecuted, what do you think the new law covering this should be? Or what existing law do you think they've broken?

The OP clearly thinks it does hence the thread 😡

Don't be fucking ridiculous

Agree.

they may not have been perfect parents, but you have no idea what they were dealing with. We don’t know enough about psychology to say why this person was like that.

they also reported him countless times and nothing was done. Perhaps at the time, this seemed like just another thing he did that would be ignored by police.

they were also victims of his abuse

`No, of course not.

No

@Lostuser I don't give a crap what colour skin the parents have, I still think they should be held accountable for clearly turning a blind eye to their son's behaviour. I have 15 and 18 year sons and would definitely not stay silent if I found weapons under their beds nor would I take delivery of a machete.

If you want to imprison parents are you also going to imprison individuals from agencies who have failed?

The parents of the victims feel there is blame here so should their opinions be ignored. It must be so difficult for the victim's parents to hear of the killers parent's actions and even though there is sympathy for the killer's parents surely they could have taken alternate actions and there is a degree of negligence here?

Considering they seem to have been victims themselves, I don’t think so.

I would have different views if they had been feeding him extremist views and buying the supplies, egging him on etc.

Tragedy all around.

I thought I read in earlier reports that the parents had repeatedly asked for help in dealing with him and didn't receive it, or not enough anyway.

Exactly that ❤️ as a mother of a child with serious mental health issues, you can never imagine that they would do such terrible things.
its so hard because i do feel for them , but if they have known that he was buying weapons online, they should have reported him.

Nobody in this country needs a machete ,our landscape isn't exactly the jungles of Borneo .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78zjzppm2mo

It seems the parents of the victims feel there was neglect from the killers' parents so is this not something that should be explored further legally or does the killer's parents apology suffice?

Not ignored but the law acknowledges that victims are not best placed to decide these things which is why we employ professionals instead of lynch mobs.

I think the question is if and how the parents should feel accountable and if the victim's families feelings should be a consideration.

Of course not. These people were in fear for their lives. So if DH punches the bejesus out of you and you report it, but fail to get it taken seriously you are to blame when he goes on to murder someone?

This really.

I wouldn't describe the parents as a lunch mob but it seems justice may be served by having some kind of sanction (even verbal?) For the killer's parents. It is difficult but I do think there was negligence on the parent's part that needs further scrutiny and as I said maybe an apology doesn't quite cut it.

Axel Rudakubana was discharged from mental health services six days before he murdered three young girls

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/17/southport-killer-axel-rudakubana-brother-inquiry

Maybe those who discharged him.should be held to account.

Well considering parents can be prosecuted for children not attending school then yes they should be held accountable for enabling his crime of the mass murder of little children.

No I don’t think so. He was clearly known to services so they had engaged support at some point. He obviously terrorised his family, his brother said he expected he would kill his father.

This ☝️ Both of the parents in their evidence to the inquiry have stated that in retrospect, they should have done more and that they are full of regret and “profoundly sorry”. They have also said that they lived in fear of their son every day. I feel sorry for them. There are no winners in all this. Have some compassion.

Yes they should face criminal action. They were living under the same roof and did nothing. No excuses about not receiving help, that monster was their responsibility and they failed.

I don't think that's really in line with what the justice system is supposed to be for.