🔗 Share this article Southport Killer’s Brother Questions Massacre Could Have Been Prevented The brother of the Southport attacker has called for a public inquiry to determine whether authorities could have intervened to stop his sibling from inflicting what he described as “profound suffering and sorrow”. In his first statement since the July attack, the older brother revealed that his sibling had grown “increasingly withdrawn” after being removed from school in October 2019. Investigation Seeks to Identify Potential Failures In a submitted testimony, he asked the presiding official to explore whether support agencies and other organizations could have taken further action to avert the atrocity. “Dion fully endorses the inquiry’s aim to identify lessons that will minimise the chance of such harm occurring in the future,” stated his legal team. The inquiry is examining how a troubled teenager with a known obsession with blades and extreme violence – who had been reported multiple times to a counter-radicalisation scheme – was able to commit what was later called “an appalling act” in recent history. Brother’s Personal History At the time the attack occurred, the brother was pursuing a degree at university, where he was also involved in student groups. According to his witness statement, he had “limited interaction” with his younger brother in the period before the mass stabbing, partly due to his education and personal circumstances. He stated his desire to assist the inquiry because his sibling’s behavior had “brought unimaginable sorrow” to numerous families. Key Event: School Expulsion Representatives highlighted that the removal from school in 2019 for carrying a knife and assaulting a peer had played an important part in the attacker’s withdrawal from his social circle. On the day of the tragedy, the older brother was at the family home in their local community. He offered information to authorities “as best he could” regarding his sibling’s state in the period leading up to the violent incident, in which 11 young girls and several adults were targeted, several fatally. Character Contrast The brother is portrayed as “wholly unlike” his sibling – “a considerate individual” of good character who was engaged in his university studies. Much of the attacker’s decline occurred at a time when Dion was still a child. “Dion, along with others, wishes the inquiry will explore whether more could have been done by authorities to assist his sibling or act in a way that might have reduced the risk of the attacks,” noted the statement. Grieving Relatives The parents of the three murdered girls – a seven-year-old, aged six, and nine years old – recently shared about the lasting pain of their loss. The public hearing, taking place in the city, is expected to finish in late autumn, with a final report to be submitted to the authorities in the subsequent period.