A businessman tried
to disarm the Southport knifeman after hearing screams from his office, The Telegraph can reveal.
Jonathan Hayes, 63, was stabbed in the leg after running into the dance studio in a desperate attempt to intervene.
His wife Helen, 57, told The Telegraph that he regrets he couldn’t do more to stop the “
ferocious attack” that left two children dead.
Asked if Mr Hayes had tried to put himself between the knifeman and the children, she said: “He did. He heard screams.
“Our office is in the same building as the dance studio, he heard screams and went outside, saw the attacker, saw that he had hurt a child and tried to take the knife off him and got stabbed in the leg.
“The dance studio is tucked away down a little alley, you wouldn’t know that there was a children’s dance studio there just by walking past – you would have to have known it was there.
“I’ve been with him all afternoon at the hospital. He’s very upset that he wasn’t able to be more help. Physically he will be OK, mentally I don’t know.”
The attack began just before midday
in Southport, Merseyside, as the children, some as young as six, were enjoying a workshop at the beginning of the school holidays.
Six of the wounded children remained in a critical condition on Monday night and were being treated at hospitals across the North West.
Two adults were present at the dance and yoga class and tried to intervene. They were also being treated for stab wounds and were said to be in critical condition.
Merseyside Police confirmed that a 17 year-old boy, from the village of Banks, about five miles away from Southport, had been arrested and was being questioned on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons and is originally from Cardiff, in Wales, moved to the Southport area with his Rwandan parents when he was aged six.
In a press conference, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, of Merseyside Police, said that while the incident was not being treated as terror-related, colleagues from counter-terror policing had offered to assist with the investigation.
She said that her officers arrived to find children subjected to a “ferocious attack”, adding: “We believe the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked.”
The Taylor Swift-themed workshop had been organised by Leanne Lucas, a local teacher, and was intended to coincide with the start of the school holidays.
About 25 children, aged between six and 11, signed up for the event, which was due to last two hours from 10am until midday.
Witnesses described how just after 11.45am, the attacker allegedly pulled up at the dance studio, which is situated in a small business centre behind a residential street, in a taxi and then got out without paying.
One witness claimed he had a black hooded top pulled up and was wearing a Covid-style face mask. He walked into the studio through the front door, which was unlocked for fire safety reasons.
It was here that Mr Hayes, who will have surgery on Tuesday, is said to have confronted the attacker, desperately trying to disarm him before being stabbed himself.
“I understand from the news reports that he was arrested at the scene. John wouldn’t know about that because by that time he had collapsed and didn’t see what happened,” Mrs Hayes told The Telegraph.
“I understand the attacker entered the building and went up the stairs and on the left-hand side at the top of the stairs is the dance studio. On the right-hand side is our office. It was on the landing. It’s quite small.
“He didn’t know but he just said it was a big knife, it made quite a big wound. Not a penknife certainly. Why you target little girls, I don’t know.”
She added: “He’s OK, he’s having surgery tomorrow. He will recover, we hope.”
People living close by described hearing shrieks and screams before blood-soaked children began running from the building.
Parents, hysterical with panic, dashed to the scene desperate to find their children.
One witness said she had seen a mother at the scene, adding: “She was screaming, ‘My daughter’s been stabbed’. The woman was in hysterics.”
Colin Parry, owner of nearby Masters Ltd Vehicle Body Repairs, on Hart Street, called the police and said mothers were screaming as they arrived at the scene. He said: “It is like a scene from a horror movie.”
Mr Parry added: “It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport.”
Within minutes, a massive emergency response was under way, with dozens of ambulances, police cars, fire engines and helicopters arriving at the scene.
North West Ambulance Service said victims were taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby District General Hospital.
Alder Hey declared a major incident and asked parents not to bring their children to the emergency department unless it was urgent.
