🔗 Share this article

The brother of the Seaside town killer testified his family "were unable to handle" of their son and he feared his brother would kill a person of their relatives, a public inquiry has learned.

The attacker, then 17, fatally attacked three children at a celebrity-themed dance workshop on July 29, 2024.

The Southport Inquiry, sitting at a civic building, was told the sibling Dion Rudakubana informed a friend there was a danger of his sibling "committing an act potentially fatal."

The inquiry was informed the brother wrote to his associate over the Discord messaging app: "Confrontations are frightening because of the risk of someone dying."

He said his relative reminded him of the sociopathic murderer in the movie No Country For Old Men.

Increasing Conflict

The hearing learned Dion was found to have a medical condition at the early teens which caused him using a wheelchair and his parents helping him more.

Questioned by the lawyer, attorney, if that altered their dynamic he stated: "Conflict arose that came about."

Dion concurred his relative showed bitterness toward this shift.

He revealed to the hearing that after the household relocated from their previous home to the seaside town his brother's moods worsened and he would have "aggressive episodes."

The inquiry learned the brother became "increasingly wary" of his sibling, who would strike him often.

He said: "I was forced to be wary if I did speak to him because any disagreement could escalate into an altercation."

'Genuine concerns'

He testified his relative became significantly more violent after he was expelled from Range High School in that region, in autumn 2019.

Dion went to college in the following period and the two had diminishing contact "due to unfamiliarity with having me around."

The inquiry was informed of a communication he wrote to a contact on Discord in which he said his sibling was angered by him talking during nighttime because of the poor insulation in their residence.

He additionally informed his friend there was a possibility of "his committing an act deadly."

He wrote: "Arguments are terrifying because of the risk of someone dying."

The counsel inquired: "You held real worries that your brother would murder a individual of your family?"

The brother responded: "In case matters intensified to that extent."

The counsel inquired how his parents responded to the attacker's violent behaviour.

"It didn't make sense to try and punish him," he said. "Also, there was a heavy risk in proceeding that way.

"We said there was a overall danger to safety in everyday talk, if you attempt to challenge him... it wouldn't be responded to well."

When the lawyer inquired if his parents had failed to manage of his relative, the brother agreed.

When asked about his relative being similar to a figure from the movie No Country for Old Men, the brother stated: "It was said that persona's intended as a psychopath and that's why I employed that term there."

He testified the previous encounter he had with his brother was in the 2023 summer.

He stated that their mother and father requested the killer to say goodbye to him as he was going to meet his friends and his relative tossed a container at him but the door had closed before it hit.

The inquiry continues.