Driver who fled Southport attack scene and waited to report killer Axel Rudakubana has taxi licence revoked

Driver who fled Southport attack scene and waited to report killer Axel Rudakubana has taxi licence revoked A council review found the taxi driver who dropped off Southport killer Axel Rudakubana no longer met the standards required to hold a private hire licence following evidence heard at the public inquiry The taxi driver who waited 50 minutes before calling police after dropping off the Southport killer has lost his taxi licence. Gary Poland drove Axel Rudakubana to Hart Space in Southport on July 29, 2024, before the then-17-year-old committed the horrific knife attack that killed Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, while injuring eight children and two adults. The Southport Inquiry earlier this year found that the killings "could and should have been prevented", if agencies had taken steps to stop the attacker. During the inquiry, it was heard that Mr Poland drove away from the scene of the terrifying attack after hearing screams and seeing children flee the building because he heard "four or five gunshots". The driver spoke of seeing children aged six and seven "stampede for their lives" within 30 seconds of Rudakubana's attack. But the inquiry heard that instead of immediately alerting police, the experienced private hire driver phoned a friend twice before picking up another fare. In a transcript of one of the calls, shown to an previous inquiry hearing, showed Mr Poland said: “He just f****** shot everyone ain’t he?” He eventually contacted officers after returning home to tell them what he knew about the teenager, the ECHO reports. His actions later became the subject of a licensing investigation. In a previous inquest hearing, he said: “I consider that I should have called police earlier. "In hindsight, I wish I had done and it’s something that I do think about every day, what I should have done and how this is my fault because I drove him there. I should have checked on the welfare of the children and helped. “I thought there was a gunman shooting at people and I believed this to be the person who I had just been shouting at to pay me a fare and threatened to call the police, so I did believe that I was in danger of being a target. I regret not helping the children. Their screams were harrowing and I can still hear them when I think back to that day.” A Sefton Council spokesperson said: “Mr Poland no longer holds a taxi driver licence following a review into his fitness to hold it by the local authority. The council found he did not meet the appropriate standards.” Mr Poland unsuccessfully appealed after the council reviewed whether he remained fit to hold a private hire licence. Sefton Council’s head of taxi licensing, Mark Toohey, told the inquiry: “We have a licensing panel and a driver such as Mr Poland would be invited to make representations and supply any information that he thought was relevant to support him before any decision was made.” The licence decision came as ministers responded to the first phase of the Southport Inquiry after chairman Sir Adrian Fulford concluded the murders “could and should have been prevented” had agencies acted on repeated warning signs. The inquiry heard Rudakubana had numerous contacts with police, counter-terrorism officers, youth justice services, social care and the NHS in the years before the attack. Among Sir Adrian’s recommendations was a proposal requiring licensed taxi drivers to promptly report serious crimes witnessed while working, with failure to do so potentially putting their licence at risk. One recommendation said: “The Department for Transport should require local authorities to ensure that all licensed taxi drivers have a clear duty promptly to report any significant criminal activity they witness while working. “This duty should form part of mandatory training, and a failure to report such activity, subject to individual circumstances, should place the driver’s licence at risk.” The Department for Transport said it expects to implement the recommendation by late 2027. Mr Poland, however, no longer holds a taxi driver’s licence with the authority covering Southport. Responding to the inquiry, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “The Southport Inquiry identified fundamental failings, across many of our public services, in the years leading up to July 2024. These devastating failures led to the senseless killing of three young girls and violent attacks on others. “My thoughts today are first and foremost with the families and friends of Bebe, Elsie and Alice and all the victims of that awful day. We owe it to them to right these wrongs. For that reason, we have accepted Sir Adrian’s recommendations for central government in full. My department will now drive this work across government, with the urgency it deserves. We will do whatever is needed to protect the public.” The inquiry is due to resume next week with a preliminary hearing before the second phase begins in London in September.