Alice da Silva Aguiar: Mum of Southport victim praises 'incredible' town for support

The mother of Alice da Silva Aguiar, one of three girls killed in an attack on a dance class in Southport, has said the town now feels like home and has praised the community for its support.

Portuguese-born Alex Aguiar, Alice's mum, said the Southport community had been “incredible” in supporting her and her husband Sergio in the aftermath of the attack and the loss of their daughter.

Alex said: "On the weekends we would spend time together, we would go to friends' houses, go out for meals.

"We were always happy to be us three, we had everything so what else could we have asked for."

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Alex said she now sees Southport as her home: “Everyone has been incredible, people who don’t know us and we’re not from here and we’ve got so much help.

“People have been very kind, wanting to help us, we didn’t expect that.

“We feel at home and we don’t feel like we have to go back.”

Alice, nine, was murdered alongside Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July last year.

In her first media interview since the knife attack, 34-year-old Alex paid tribute to her daughter, who she said loved to dance, and had started baby ballet when she was just 16 months old.

“When she was four, she went to Southport Dance Academy and from then on Heidi (Liddle) was her ballet teacher,” Alex said.

Heidi Liddle was one of the two adults, along with class instructor Leanne Lucas, present at the dance class when attacker Axel Rudakubana entered the Hart Space on the small business estate on July 29 2024.

Alex added: “She started doing street dance two years ago in the same dance academy but then she stopped after Heidi went off on maternity leave.

“She was fuming.

“She kept on doing ballet on Saturdays and then she used to street dance.

“On Thursdays she would do cheerleading at the YMCA and the choir in the school every Tuesday.”

Sarah, 33, has been helping Alex in the aftermath of the attack with one-on-one fitness sessions at her gym, PWR BOX, in the town centre for free.Sitting in the closed studio, the pair smiled at each other as they shared memories of Alice, who should have turned 10 in October last year.

Sarah said: "I have lots of memories of Alice beaming out of school, telling me lots of stories."She was so happy and so funny. Things like parties, the school disco where Alice would have the longest hair."

Alex continued: "Alice and Briar would do a video call before the disco saying what they were going to wear. They all had to be the same."

Alex and Sarah continued to discuss how their daughters would often wear the same costumes for Halloween, most recently going as Wednesday Addams together, with Alice "not needing the fake hair".Alex and Sergio moved to Southport in 2010 due to Sergio's brother living in the area, settling in Marshside where Alice was raised.

Alice enrolled at Churchtown Primary School where "her class was her family" due to her being an only child, Alex explained.Now, Alex sees Southport as home, with no need to return to her native Portugal where much of her family reside.

She said: "Everyone has been incredible, people who don't know us and we're not from here and we've got so much help. People have been very kind, wanting to help us, we didn't expect that. We feel at home and we don't feel like we have to go back."

Sarah, a mum-of-two to Briar and her sister Amora, seven, is set to compete in her third ever boxing match at The Grand in Southport on Saturday 22 February, in Alice's name.

She has launched a JustGiving page where she has already raised £2,355 for the grieving couple, with the hope of raising more.Paying tribute to Alice, who she first met in 2018, Sarah said: "I remember lots of happy memories. We used to walk the same way out of the school where we would have all our conversations and Alice would be talking about things that she was doing and what was coming up."

Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January for the murders of the three girls, as well as the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Ms Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

Six month on from the attack, Alex said she is focusing her efforts on building a legacy for Alice, with projects to memorialise her which she said she will share in coming weeks and months.