Southport killer Axel Rudakubana will not be named in the upcoming public probe into last summer's triple murders, the inquiry's chairman has revealed.
The 18-year-old killer will instead be referred to in the report as the "perpetrator" or "AR".
In his opening statement on Tuesday, inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford claimed that Rudakubana’s name should not be used for reasons of sensitivity.
Fulford said: “For the benefit of the victims and their families, for whom this is an issue of significant and wholly understandable sensitivity, his name should not be used again during this inquiry.
“He will simply be referred to as ‘the perpetrator’ or ‘AR’.”
The ex-Court of Appeal judge added: “However hard we try, ordinary language simply fails to reflect the enormity of what he did on July 29 last year.
"None of the most powerful adjectives even begin to suffice: there are no words that adequately describe what occurred and I am not going to try (and then fail) to find them.”
The Liverpool Town Hall inquiry, which launched today, will focus on whether the attack could have been prevented and whether adequate measures are in place to tackle teenagers “who are drawn into extreme violence without a commitment to a particular religious or political cause”.
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Chair Sir Adrian Fulford arrives with secretary to the inquiry Kate Anderson at Liverpool Town Hall
PA
The probe has been launched just months after Rudakubana was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years in January.
AR carried out his horrific attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were tragically killed in the stabbing spree.
The perpetrator also attempted to murder eight other children, class instructor Leanne Lucas and local businessman John Hayes.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King were murdered by RudakubanaPAThe killer's "sickening interest in death" included chilling searches for school massacres, leading to him being flagged to anti-terror programme Prevent three times.
A rapid review into his contact with Prevent found his case should have been kept open.
AR was first referred to Prevent in 2013 at the age of just 13 after using computers to look up school massacres.
A second referral was made two years later after viewing material on previous terror atrocities.
The community has come together to lay flowers outside Southport's town hall as a memorialPAThe 18-year-old later pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and ten of attempted murder.
He also admitted two terror offences after police found ricin and an Al-Qaeda manual at his home.
Fulford said: "As the Government at the highest levels has recognised, the perpetrator is responsible for one of the most egregious crimes in our country’s history.
"However hard we try, ordinary language simply fails to reflect the enormity of what he did on July 29 last year.
Chair Sir Adrian Fulford sitting inside the hearing room at Liverpool Town Hall
PA
"None of the most powerful adjectives even begin to suffice: there are no words that adequately describe what occurred and I am not going to try (and then fail) to find them.
"Instead, I simply observe that his crimes impose the heaviest of burdens on our society to investigate speedily but comprehensively how it was possible for AR to have caused such devastation.
"To analyse the decisions that were or were not taken by multiple individuals and organisations given his deteriorating and deeply troubling behaviour; to identify without fear or favour all of the relevant failings; and to make comprehensive, sensible and achievable recommendations to ensure we have the best chance of intervening with and preventing others who may be drawn to treating their fellow human beings in such a cruel and inhuman way."
The Southport inquiry continues.
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