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 said an investigation had been launched after court files about victims, their families and survivors of the attack on the dance class in July 2024 were accessed without authorisation.
Earlier this year, the North West Ambulance Service said it was looking into whether staff inappropriately accessed victims’ records.
The parents of one of the injured children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: ‘In recent weeks our family has once again been devastated by two data breaches that involve our daughter; NWAS and now the MoJ.
‘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.’
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The parents said the ‘despicable’ individuals behind the illegal access should lose their jobs.
The family said their worst fear was that the information could be used for profit.
They added: ‘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 onto 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’.
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.’
It is understood that 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 that any personal data has been shared with third parties, but the incident has been referred to the 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.’
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 July 29, 2024.
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