Seaside town attacker's brother worried he would kill, inquiry learns
The brother of the Southport attacker said his family "lost control" of their offspring and he was concerned his family member would kill a individual of their relatives, a hearing has learned.
Axel Rudakubana, aged 17 at the time, fatally attacked three children at a celebrity-themed lesson on 29 July 2024.
The Southport Inquiry, conducted at a civic building, was told the attacker's brother Dion Rudakubana informed a close contact there was a risk of his relative "doing something that could kill."
The investigation was informed he wrote to his friend over the online platform: "Arguments are scary because of the threat of a fatality."
He stated his sibling reminded him of the psychopathic killer in the film No Country For Old Men.
Growing Tensions
The hearing learned the brother was found to have a medical condition at the age of 12 which resulted in him needing mobility assistance and his mother and father helping him more.
In response to the inquiry counsel, legal representative, if that altered their dynamic he replied: "There was tension that came about."
Dion agreed his relative seemed to dislike this change.
He testified the hearing that after the household left their previous home to Southport his sibling's temperament worsened and he would have "aggressive episodes."
The hearing was informed he became "progressively concerned" of his sibling, who would hit him regularly.
He stated: "I needed to be careful if I tried to communicate to him because any disagreement could escalate into an argument."
'Genuine concerns'
The brother said his sibling became increasingly physical after he was dismissed from the educational institution in that region, in that period.
He went to college in the following period and the siblings communicated rarely "due to unfamiliarity with having me around."
Proceedings was made aware of a communication he sent to a contact on Discord in which he said his brother was angered by him having conversations after dark because of the poor insulation in their home.
He also told his contact there was a danger of "his committing an act that could kill."
He stated: "Confrontations are scary because of the threat of a fatality."
The counsel inquired: "You had serious fears that your sibling would fatally harm a member of your household?"
The brother answered: "In case matters intensified to that extent."
Mr Boyle questioned how his family reacted to the relative's physical conduct.
"There was no point to seek to penalize him," he testified. "Moreover, there was a significant danger in proceeding that way.
"We mentioned there was a general risk to well-being in casual discussion, if you seek to address him... it would not end well."
When Mr Boyle asked if his mother and father had been unable to handle of his brother, the brother acknowledged.
When asked about his relative being similar to a figure from the film the thriller, Dion stated: "I heard that figure's intended as a sociopath and that's why I employed that term there."
The brother said the final contact he had with his sibling was in the 2023 summer.
He confirmed that their family told the killer to say goodbye to him as he was leaving to see his associates and his sibling threw a bottle at him but the door had closed before it hit.
The hearing continues.