The taxi driver who unwittingly drove teenage killer Axel Rudakubana to a Taylor Swift-themed dance party and then fled as children were stabbed has been stripped of his licence. Gary Poland, 56, told a public inquiry he heard four or five loud bangs and drove away in 'complete mortal terror and shock' because he feared Rudakubana had a gun and was shooting people.
Poland had picked up the 17-year-old, who used a fake name for the booking, and dropped him at the Hart Space studio in Southport on July 29, 2024. Rudakubana left without paying, and Poland followed him to demand payment but was ignored. Within 30 seconds of the attack beginning, Poland saw six and seven-year-old children 'stampede for their lives'. Dashboard camera footage played at the inquiry showed him driving away as screaming children ran from the building.
“Taxi driver Gary Poland, who fled as children were stabbed, had his licence revoked after waiting 50 minutes to call 999.”
Despite witnessing the chaos, Poland did not call 999 immediately. Instead, he drove off, called a friend, collected another passenger, and spoke with his wife. He eventually dialled the emergency number 50 minutes later when he arrived home. In a statement to the inquiry, Poland said: 'I regret not helping the children, their screams were harrowing and I can still hear them when I think back to that day.'
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the attack. Eight other children and two adults were seriously injured. The inquiry found that the murders 'could and should have been prevented' if multiple agencies – including mental health, social care and counter-extremism bodies which were aware of Rudakubana – had taken steps to stop him.
Sefton Council revoked Poland's licence, stating he 'did not meet the appropriate standards' under the council's taxi licence conditions, which require drivers to call 999 if a child is in serious danger of immediate harm. All taxi licensing hearings are held in private, and the council said the exact reason for the revocation is not made public. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government accepts the recommendations from the first phase of the inquiry in full. Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford pointed to a 'fundamental failure' by any organisation or multi-agency arrangement to take ownership of the risk Rudakubana posed in the years leading up to the attack. 'These devastating failures led to the senseless killing of three young girls and violent attacks on others,' Mahmood added.