Overview
- Testifying by video link, Alphonse Rudakubana admitted accepting and hiding a machete delivered to his home in June 2023 and said he regrets not calling police, adding he believes intervention could have prevented the attack.
- Laetitia Muzayire gave emotional evidence, said she thought her son had gone for a walk when he left the house on the day of the killings, and pleaded not to be associated with knives after her fingerprint was found on packaging.
- The inquiry heard Axel used false names and third-party addresses to place repeated online orders for blades, including further machetes in October 2023, and had earlier bought seeds later linked to ricin.
- Bereaved families said the parents should be held to account for failures to act, and a survivor’s family called the parents’ conduct neglectful and cowardly, while the inquiry chair rebuked a barrister for describing the families’ view as disdain.
- The first phase featured more than 100 witnesses across policing, schools, mental health services, online sellers and social media, and follows Axel Rudakubana’s life sentence with a 52-year minimum after he admitted the murders and attempted murders.