Far-Right mob ‘hijacked the killings of little children and must face full force of the law'

FAR-RIGHT thugs who injured nearly 40 police officers in a violent protest sparked by misinformation online about the mass stabbing of children in Southport must be brought to justice, the town’s MP said today.

- Martin Bentham

The disorder started outside a mosque a short time after local residents had gathered nearby to pay their respects to the three girls who died in Monday’s attack on the Taylor Swift-themed holiday dance, yoga and bracelet-making class and the others who were injured.

Five girls and two adults, who were all critically injured, were still in hospital while the three who died were named as Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.

But after flowers were laid and candles lit at a vigil, a protest involving supporters of the English Defence League, incited by unsubstantiated rumours about the 17-year-old suspect, saw a day of mourning tarnished by violence.

The protesters hurled missiles at police using bricks from garden walls after first trying to attack the mosque in disorder that lasted several hours.