Taxi driver admits deep regret after fleeing Southport attack that left three children dead

The taxi driver who unwittingly delivered the Southport killer to a children’s dance class has told an inquiry he will never forgive himself for not acting sooner.

Gary Poland admitted he froze in fear after dropping off Axel Rudakubana, who went on to murder three young girls and injure several others. Speaking by video-link to the Southport Inquiry, Poland confessed he panicked, drove away and failed to alert police until nearly an hour later.

“I should have called the police earlier. In hindsight I wish I had done and it’s something I think about every day,” he said, his voice heavy with remorse.

The attack at the Hart Space in Southport claimed the lives of Alice Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six. Eight other girls and two adults were also injured during the rampage.

Poland told the inquiry that just moments after the attacker refused to pay his fare, he saw him walk into the venue. He then heard what he thought were gunshots followed by blood-curdling screams. His dashcam later revealed terrified girls running from the building, some stumbling and clinging together in what police described as a stampede for their lives.

“It was terrifying,” Poland said. “You were fearful and in a state of shock. I just thought someone was shooting. I went into panic mode.”

When pressed by Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry, Poland admitted he should have stopped on Hart Street and contacted authorities as soon as he was clear of danger. “Yeah,” he conceded quietly.

The inquiry heard that dashcam footage showed Poland glancing into his rear-view mirror while children sprinted past his vehicle. Yet he carried on driving, gripped by fear.

In his police statement, Poland described seeing “a massed huddle of children stumble and run in a panicked hurry”. The images, he said, still torment him. “I can’t sleep at night. I shut my eyes, I see his face. He is just there all the time in my head,” he admitted.

Moss confronted him with a transcript of a phone call he made to a friend shortly after the incident. The record captured Poland discussing his belief that the attacker had a gun but made no mention of concern for the injured children. Moss suggested the call’s purpose was more about shock and self-focus — “guess what just happened to me” — than the plight of the victims. Poland rejected that interpretation, saying it was “unfair”.

He insisted he did not know at the time that the children had been wounded. Still, his failure to contact emergency services until 50 minutes after the initial attack now hangs over him.

The inquiry, held at Liverpool Town Hall, is examining the full sequence of events and the responses of those who might have acted differently. Poland’s testimony, filled with guilt and sorrow, laid bare the haunting weight of inaction.

As police officers continue to comb the tragedy’s aftermath, the spotlight remains fixed on those moments when decisions were made — and when they were not. For Poland, those decisions remain a torment. His words to the inquiry underlined a simple, devastating truth: fear paralysed him, and children paid the price.

The inquiry continues.