Stabbed yoga teacher has an idea to stop it happening again

LEANNE LUCAS IS ASKING PEOPLE TO MAKE ONE CHANGE 08:57, 21 May 2025 Southport yoga teacher Leanne Lucas is asking people to make one change after the life-changing event she suffered last

year. The 36-year-old was leading a Taylor Swift-themed workshop on July 29 last year when Axel Rudakubana began his attack on the class of 26 children, killing six-year-old Bebe King,

seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. Rudakubana, 18, is currently serving a life sentence for killing the three young girls. Leanne, who tried to

protect children from the knifeman and was badly wounded herself, has now launched a new campaign after the horrific events of last year. She has launched ‘Let’s Be Blunt’, a new national

campaign urging households, retailers, and policymakers to switch from pointed to rounded-tip kitchen knives as a "practical step to reduce knife crime." The campaign is being

unveiled at a Knife Crime Awareness Week parliamentary reception on Wednesday (May 21) night, where Leanne will speak alongside the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Policing Minister Dame

Diana Johnson. She is also attending Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon. Leanne said: "The horrific events in Southport on the 29th of July 2024 changed my life forever. The pain

and heartbreak that the families involved have had to endure is unimaginable. "If I can help to ensure this doesn’t happen to another family again, I will. When people ask if there is

anything they can do to help me, my answer is clear and comes from the heart: swap your pointed kitchen knives for rounded ones. Pointed knives, readily available in most kitchens, pose a

very real risk of being tragically used as weapons on our streets. Article continues below "A simple yet effective change, replacing our kitchen knives with rounded ones, can remove

this potential for danger. If we all make a small change in our homes, together we can play a powerful role in preventing future tragedies before they unfold." Crime and Policing

Minister, Dame Diana Johnson also said: “We have been clear nothing is off the table when it comes to getting lethal blades off our streets and keeping people safe. "We are actively

exploring options and pursuing changes in this area, and I will be meeting with retailers and manufacturers to develop next steps on the promotion of rounded tipped knives. “Our mission to

halve knife crime over a decade will be delivered through tougher enforcement and stronger prevention. We cannot do this alone, which is why we formed the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime as

a platform for genuine collaboration, so that together we can tackle the scourge of serious violence and save young lives.” After the events of last summer, Leanne said in an emotional

victim statement: "As a 36 year old woman, I cannot stay in my own home alone. As a 36 year old woman I cannot go to work. As a 36 year old woman I cannot walk down the street without

holding my breath as I bypass a person and then glance back to see if they’ve attempted to stab me. As a 36 year old woman I cannot enter a public place without considering how I will get

out in the event of an emergency. As a 36 year old woman I cannot give myself compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died. "There was a long

period of time after the incident where I felt I had no trust in society. I am trying to see the goodness in the world however the badness has been evidentially proven to me to exist, in

plain sight, on our doorsteps, in our community. You never think this is going to happen to you, I never thought this was going to happen to me and now my mindset has been altered to it

could happen to you and it will probably happen to you. I feel that I have lost the ability to accept people now as they are. I worked with teenagers, I never would have considered that they

would hurt me or hurt younger children. "I spent many months thinking about the incident 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Just when I felt I could settle and try to move forward, the

trauma of that day is now back at the forefront. I constantly see his face; new memories have appeared, and this will continue to happen for the rest of my life. "My role in Southport

was to help others, mainly children and their families. My work was a safe haven for those who needed it the most. All I wanted to do was make a positive impact and highlight goodness and

positivity. Families felt a part of a community I had built, from scratch, being self-employed. I have now lost my role, my purpose and my job as I can no longer provide that guidance and

reassurance to anyone. I feel like I can no longer be trusted again, I know people will disagree and say that is not true however his actions have proven I can never feel that level of

responsibility again where there may be dangers to others. "On that day I received several injuries that have not only affected me physically, but also mentally. I, as do the girls,

have scars we cannot unsee, scars we cannot move on from. Visual daily reminders of not only what he has done to us but a stark reminder of what others can still do to us. I endured three

hospital stays where I undertook multiple surgeries and received treatment for my injuries. At a time where home comforts may have helped me, I sat staring at hospital walls further

impacting my mental health. My family and friends suffered during this whole period of time, not being able to process what he had done because they were sat by my bed side trying to support

me. Article continues below "The trauma of being both a victim and a witness has been horrendous. There are times when I will spiral into trauma and the effect this has had on those

close to me is unforgivable. The impact this has had on me can be summed up by one word: trauma. He targeted us because we were women and girls, vulnerable and easy prey. To discover that he

had always set out to hurt the vulnerable is beyond comprehension. For Alice, Elsie, Bebe, Heidi and the surviving girls, I’m surviving for you."