Reading victims' families want action after Southport murders

The families of three men murdered by a man after multiple failures by state agencies fear lessons have not been learned after the killings in Southport and are demanding more government action.

James Furlong, David Wails and Joe Ritchie-Bennett were attacked by Khairi Saadallah in Forbury Gardens, Reading, in June 2020.

Saadallah and Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years for the murder of three girls on Thursday, had both been referred to the government's anti-extremism Prevent programme.

A government spokesperson said it is keeping "systems under constant review".

Saadallah was given a whole-life term in 2021 after admitting murder and the attempted murder of three other men.

Judge Coroner Sir Adrian Fulford found major problems with intelligence sharing between authorities following an inquest, which concluded in April, and said the three men's deaths were avoidable.

Counter Terrorism Policing, the Probation Service and Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust were among the organisations criticised for failing in the case.

Saadallah arrived in the UK in 2012 as a teenage refugee, having fought in the Libyan revolution, and suffered from PTSD, among other conditions, and spent spells in prison.

He had extensive contact with mental health services, but Sir Adrian said Saadallah was "caught in a catch-22" with no continuity of care.

In a statement, the families said potential changes to mental health services appeared "very ambitious without a lot of extra money".

"[Saadallah] was known to the authorities, he had plenty of contact with mental health services, but it was all sporadic and crisis-driven," they added.

"He didn't meet the criteria for long-term psychological treatment that could have made all the difference...

"As far as we can tell, without serious money and serious investment in mental health services in this country, there will continue to be people at large who are a dangerous risk to the safety of the public as we also saw recently in the Nottingham knife attacks."

James Furlong's parents, Jan and Gary, met Home Office minister Dan Jarvis this week to discuss security measures taken in light of the Reading attack and have received letters from the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, to discuss these further.

But the families said their concerns have not been allayed.

Mrs Furlong said "all of the issues in Southport had been highlighted already" in her son's inquest.

"Yet again someone has fallen through the net of Prevent, when for three years before the 2024 inquest into the deaths of our sons they were supposed to be making changes," she added.

Mr Furlong said: "Without a commitment to making available the necessary resources so that meaningful change can be made, we do not believe that there is a willingness to get to grips with the issues raised by the Judge Coroner and the risks posed to public safety.

"This is why we are seeking a meeting with Wes Streeting. We believe only he can make change happen."

Mr Furlong, who lives in Liverpool, said this week had been a "very difficult time", following Rudakubana's guilty pleas.

"Our thoughts are totally with the families. We know how they're feeling now because obviously we have been through that," Mr Furlong added.

"They're are at the start of a very painful journey, which is going to carry on for three to four years. Waiting for this public inquiry and the information coming out of that is going to weigh very heavy on them.

"At the end of the public inquiry, are we going to be in the same position that the actions that come out of the public inquiry aren't embedded into the agencies?"

When he was sentenced in January 2021, Judge Mr Justice Sweeney said Saadallah was responsible for a "ruthless and brutal" attack.

He said the three men "had no chance to react, let alone defend themselves".

"Our thoughts continue to be with the families and loved ones impacted by both the tragedies in Southport and Reading," the government spokesperson said.

"It is paramount we protect the public and keep our systems under constant review.

"Which is why we have committed to an inquiry into the failings of what happened in Southport and why the home secretary is closely overseeing the implementation of commitments made in the Home Office response to the Forbury Gardens Coronial Report to Prevent Future Deaths."

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