Yoga teacher injured in Southport stabbings readmitted to hospital

A yoga teacher injured during a mass stabbing in Southport is back in hospital after struggling with her breathing.

Leanne Lucas is believed to have been one of the organisers of a Taylor Swift-themed dance event where the knife attack took place last month.

Three girls, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died in the atrocity.

Ms Lucas, who suffered stab wounds, was discharged from hospital last week, but has now been readmitted and is awaiting an operation to drain her lung, according to a message posted on a GoFundMe page.

“Leanne had barely begun her road to recovery. Please keep her in your thoughts and continue supporting her as you have been by sharing the page and donating anything you can,” the message, written on behalf of her friends and family, said.

Ms Lucas is thought to have tried to protect the children who attended the Swift-themed class on 29 July.

She was described as a “hero” by her cousin Chris Rimmer who said the days since the tragedy had been “devastating” and “ripped us all apart”.

“She doesn’t speak to anyone about it and I don’t think she can process it”, Mr Rimmer previously told ITV News.

An inquest into the deaths of Alice, Bebe and Elsie Dot was opened on 7 August and adjourned, as a coroner said it was “impossible to adequately articulate the devastating, lifelong effects” of the “truly tragic events”.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been charged with the murder of the three girls at the Hart Space in Southport, Merseyside.

He is also charged with the attempted murder of Ms Lucas, businessman John Hayes, and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.

Around 460 people arrested in connection with violent disorder that broke out after the stabbings have appeared in court, with at least 99 already sentenced, the Ministry of Justice said on Friday.

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