Businessman stabbed in Southport attack ‘thought he was going to be killed’

A businessman who was stabbed while trying to disarm the alleged Southport attacker has said he thought he was going to be killed.

John Hayes was stabbed in the leg during the knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday which left three girls dead.

The 63-year-old told ITV News of how he ran to help when he realised people were injured.

I didn't rationalise, or you don't have time to do a risk assessment, I just put my arm up when this knife was coming towards me

Mr Hayes, who was discharged from hospital on Thursday, said: “I heard lots of children running out the buildings, screaming, shouting. And that itself isn’t unusual because kids are very excitable normally when they come out of these classes, so that alone didn’t surprise me or strike me as unusual.

“But that didn’t then die down, which it normally does, and some of my colleagues got up to look out the window. And it was only at that stage when one of them witnessed a young girl on the floor, I assume, by the front door of entrance to our building.

“And said words to the effect, ‘There’s a girl outside bleeding out’. And as soon as I heard that I ran, I basically ran the full length of our office to go find out if I could help and what was happening to her and I never got as far as her because she was outside.

“So still on the first floor, when I opened our office door, I was confronted by another girl on the floor who looked like she had multiple stab wounds and was heavily blood-soaked and this guy in front of me with a knife, who then came towards me in a pretty menacing way. And I thought he’s going to kill me too.

“I didn’t rationalise, or you don’t have time to do a risk assessment, I just put my arm up when this knife was coming towards me. And I didn’t even realise I’d been stabbed initially, until I looked down and saw blood coming out my leg and I tried to kick him with my right leg and then that’s when I fell over.”

Mr Hayes said he was taken on a stretcher to a road which had become a “makeshift holding area” and was in “quite a lot of pain”.

He added: “I’m glad that personally I didn’t have to witness all the anguish, those parents arriving on to that scene, it must have been horrific for them. I don’t know how they’ll come to terms with that, particularly the three parents have lost children, but others have had a lucky escape including me.”

Asked if he felt he was a hero, he replied: “I’m not going sit here and tell you that I was brave about the whole thing and confronting a knifeman, that’s not the story at all.

“And as I’ve said to everybody that’s asked, I don’t want this to be about me. I want this to be about the families of those three little girls. I’m really, really saddened to hear what’s happened and it’s going to take me a while to come to terms with that, it really is.”

Asked how he was doing with trying to come to terms with it, he said: “Not great. Last night I had a few flashbacks which weren’t pleasant. I’m still in quite a lot of pain, but I can get round, I’m hobbling around learning how to lose use crutches. Helen (his wife) has been hugely supportive.”

He said the parents of Leanne Lucas, the yoga class instructor injured while protecting children at the holiday club, had visited him in hospital and he believed “she’s going to be OK”.

He said: “I suspect that what she (Leanne) was doing was shielding children, so if you want to talk about real heroes then that’s her definitely. But I believe she’s going to be OK. So yes, I hope everybody makes a recovery.”

Axel Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire, has been charged with the murder of three girls in Southport and appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.

He is also accused of the attempted murder of yoga class instructor Ms Lucas, Mr Hayes and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.

He was remanded to youth detention accommodation and will next appear in court in October.