Overview
- Alphonse Rudakubana admitted he accepted a machete his son ordered under a false name in June 2023, hid it, and now says he should have called police because intervention might have prevented the attack.
- He said he feared a “dangerous reaction” if he opened weapon parcels and accepted it was likely he, not his son, took delivery of a second machete in October 2023 that carried age‑verification labels.
- He acknowledged receiving an Amazon package marked “bladed article” on July 15, 2024, and said he probably left it behind the door without reading the label despite his son’s history with knives.
- He told the inquiry he and his wife regularly gave their son cash, including up to £80 as hygiene rewards, and he did not ask how the money was used.
- A lawyer for the victims’ families told him they had complete disdain for his explanations before the inquiry chair rebuked the remark, and the panel is scheduled to hear from the mother later Thursday.