Driver who took Southport killer regrets not helping children

Floral tributes near the scene of the attack in Hart Street, Southport (James Speakman/PA) James Speakman

The taxi driver who transported Axel Rudakubana to the Southport attack scene told an inquiry he deeply regrets not helping the children he saw fleeing the building. Gary Poland, a driver for One Call Taxis, picked up another fare and returned home first before calling emergency services 50 minutes after hearing screams at the Hart Space.

Poland gave evidence to the Southport Inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall on Thursday, explaining he initially thought Rudakubana had gone into the building to get money to pay his fare. The teenager murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and attempted to murder 10 others during the Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29.

Driver's regret and shock

In a statement, Poland 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." He added: "I should have checked on the welfare of the children and helped."

Poland explained his fear prevented him from acting immediately. "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," he stated.

The driver described the profound impact of what he witnessed. "I regret not helping the children. Their screams were harrowing and I can still hear them when I think back to that day," Poland told the inquiry. He said he was in "complete shock" and described being in a "state of complete mortal terror and shock."

The journey and aftermath

The inquiry heard that one minute after leaving Hart Street, Poland called his friend Julian Medlock, who ran a garage near the Hart Space. A transcript showed Poland saying: "He just f****** shot everyone ain't he?"

Poland had collected Rudakubana, whose name was listed as Simon, from his home in Banks, Lancashire, arriving at Hart Street at 11.44am. The journey passed in silence and Poland said Rudakubana gave him no cause for suspicion during the trip.

When asked about the weapon, Poland told the inquiry he was unaware Rudakubana was carrying a knife. "If I'd have thought he had a knife I'd have got out and disarmed him," he said. When counsel Nicholas Moss KC questioned this, Poland replied: "Yeah. It's only a knife."

Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.