Bereaved families calls for calm; says rioters have no respect for grieving town
Heartbroken Southport families have called for calm on the streets as they accused violent thugs of showing 'no respect to a town that's grieving' after protesters torched a police van and injured several officers during ugly riots last night.
Merseyside Police said 22 of its officers were injured after clashes broke out in the seaside town, near the scene where three girls were killed in a horrific knife rampage on Monday.
The Prime Minister and Home Secretary joined police chiefs in condemning the ‘sickening’ violence, which started barely an hour after thousands of mourners had gathered for a vigil to remember the victims who lost their lives.
Tributes have poured in for the three girls killed who police yesterday named as six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, according to MailOnline.
Eight other children suffered stab wounds at the Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance workshop. Five are in a critical condition, alongside two women who were also critically injured as they bravely tried to save the children.
Just yards away from the emotional vigil, a 32-year-old man, dressed in all black with a hat on the joint-hottest day of the year, was separately arrested after being caught carrying a flick knife on Eastbank Street at 6.55pm.
On nearby St Luke’s Street, rioters chanting ‘English till I die’ surrounded the Southport Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre and began hurling rubble at police officers who had formed a protective line around the building.
The violence appears to have been fuelled by false claims online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
The 17-year-old boy, who remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder, is originally from Cardiff but now lives in the nearby Lancashire village of Banks.
Merseyside Police has issued a warning over an ‘incorrect’ name being widely circulated online, adding: ‘We would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing.’
The angry mob – who police ‘believed to be supporters of the English Defence League’ – started targeting the Muslim place of worship at around 7.45pm.
Eight police officers suffered serious injuries, including one who was knocked unconscious. Protesters also torched cars and wheelie bins belonging to members of the public, shattered the mosque windows with bricks and looted shops.
