Parents of Southport attack victim 'devastated' by data breach

The parents of a child injured in the Southport attack have said they are "devastated" after court files were accessed without authorisation.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said an urgent investigation had been launched after court files detailing victims, their families and survivors of the attack on the dance class in July 2024 were accessed without authorisation.

It comes after it emerged earlier this year that the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) was looking into whether staff inappropriately accessed the records of victims.

The parents of one of the injured children said: "Our family has once again been devastated by two data breaches that involve our daughter, NWAS and now the MoJ."

The parents, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, continued: "This culture of snooping across agencies and services must end and that will only happen if those individuals are held to account and not protected by the very confidentiality laws they flouted to access our daughter's information.

"We expect each of these despicable individuals to lose their jobs, and full transparency from NWAS and the MoJ about what happened to the information they stole.

"Two years on, our focus should be on our daughter's continuing recovery, not having to manage further failures by the state that have put our daughter at risk once again."

The family said their worst fear was the information could be used for profit.

"We are exhausted by apologies. We are exhausted by offers to meet with government ministers and CEOs; all of which amount to nothing.

"It is not acceptable any more to continue to heap more risk and stress on to our family and the other families affected."

Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, partner at Fletchers Solicitors, which represents 22 of the 23 surviving children, called for the government to launch an independent investigation to address the "grim, voyeuristic culture" that prompted the data breach.

She said: "Week after week we are learning of a new data breach against victims who have endured the worst atrocities this country has ever seen.

"It is disgraceful that these public bodies have known of these breaches for months and only choose to disclose them as the media pressure mounts and their internal investigations are all but over.

"These families have suffered enough trauma, they need transparency and accountability now."

'Firm action'

It is understood court staff accessed the files without approval and the data breach was discovered during a review of digital systems.

The information accessed for a limited number of people included sensitive and personal data, which is considered likely to result in a high risk to their rights and freedoms.

There is no evidence any personal data has been shared with third parties, but the incident has been referred to data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office.

An MoJ spokesperson said: "We are appalled that this happened and recognise the distress it will have caused victims, survivors, and their families.

"We apologise to those affected – unauthorised access to court files is completely unacceptable.

"This is now being investigated urgently, and the Prime Minister has asked the Lord Chancellor to oversee this.

"All wrongdoing will be met with extremely firm action."

The Prisons and Probation Service and the Courts and Tribunals Service are investigating, and anyone impacted is being notified directly.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed in the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024.