AR’s knowledge of the dance and yoga class

¶8. Ms Leanne Lucas, a primary school and yoga teacher, and Mrs Heidi Liddle, a dance teacher and teaching assistant, had arranged a Taylor Swift themed dance and yoga workshop for children, to take place between 10:00 and 12:00 on 29 July 2024.⁷⁶⁷⁶ First Witness Statement of Ms Lucas IWS000003/§1.,⁷⁷⁷⁷ Witness Statement of Mrs Liddle IWS000002/§1.

¶9. Ms Lucas ran Enlighten Kids Yoga in Southport, which provided children and family yoga classes, with the aim of delivering yoga, mindfulness and wellbeing. She ran weekly yoga classes and the Hart Space was one of a number of venues she used.

¶10. Although they had not run precisely this kind of class together before, Ms Lucas knew Mrs Liddle well. They originally met as staff members at Churchtown Primary School where Mrs Liddle acted as Ms Lucas’s classroom teaching assistant for three years. They met in advance of 29 July 2024 and discussed the running of the event and the arrangements. It was hoped to make this a special event by introducing the dance element (to be led by Mrs Liddle) in addition to the yoga element which Ms Lucas was used to leading in the classes she ran.

¶11. On 7 July 2024, Ms Lucas advertised the event on her Enlighten Kids Yoga account on Instagram, indicating that it was to be held at the Hart Space, behind 34 Hart Street (in Southport) and giving the postcode.⁷⁸⁷⁸ MERP000983. Mrs Liddle also posted about the event on Instagram. The advertisement made clear that the class was for children in academic years 2 to 6, that is to say children aged 6 to 11. It would have been obvious that the organisers were women because the advertisement read: “Yoga and dance workshop with Leanne and Heidi”. Given that it was a Taylor Swift themed dance and yoga event for children, it would also have been apparent that young girls would be the most likely to attend. A later post on 18 July 2024, again giving the age of the intended attendees along with the address (including the postcode), indicated that the event was sold out.⁷⁹⁷⁹ MERP008146. The bookings which Ms Lucas took for the event were for 26 girls, most aged between 6 and 10, with one 13-year-old assistant or helper (Child C6).

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¶12. Meta are the owners of Instagram.⁸⁰⁸⁰ See generally Witness Statement of Mr Lappin META000016. They complied with the Inquiry’s request for disclosure. However, neither the disclosed Instagram data (which does not reveal pages which AR merely viewed) nor the retrievable data from AR’s devices, established definitively that AR saw one of these Instagram posts. I am, however, in no doubt that AR did see one or more of these posts and that he had researched the venue. Notably, the Merseyside Police investigation established that AR had saved the precise postcode for the Hart Space as a contact on his Nokia mobile telephone.⁸¹⁸¹ MERP001363/7. Additionally, AR was very precise in the address when he later arranged the taxi that took him to the Hart Space to carry out the attack (see paragraph 36 below).

¶13. Consistent with the sentencing remarks of Mr Justice Goose, I conclude that AR had deliberately targeted the children who were to become his victims. AR knew that they would be very young. He knew they would be mainly girls. He knew the organisers were two women. I am therefore in no doubt that, in a most cowardly way, he deliberately chose young girls to be the victims of his abhorrent violence.