Uk stabbings – A 17-year-old appeared in court on Thursday, charged with murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in Southport, northwest England, leading to violent protests in several English cities.
The unrest, fuelled by misinformation about the suspect, prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to convene an emergency meeting with police chiefs to restore order.
Axel Rudakubana, 17, faces three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder following the killings Monday in Southport, northwest England.
The attack has shocked the country, and false information online about the background of the suspect led to far-right agitators targetting a mosque and clashing with police in Southport.
Protests also rocked London, and the northern cities of Hartlepool and Manchester on Wednesday night. Police arrested more than 100 people outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official Downing Street residence.
Starmer was to hold an emergency meeting Thursday with police chiefs seeking to quell the unrest.
Rudakubana was remanded in a youth detention centre during a hearing at Liverpool’s crown court, where a judge lifted normal court reporting restrictions for a minor, ruling that he could be named. “Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum,” said judge Andrew Menary, lifting the restriction.
While the suspect would normally have had anonymity because of his age, he would in any case have lost it when he turned 18 next Wednesday.
Rudakubana wore a grey tracksuit sweatshirt and at times rocked back and forth and side to side.
UK stabbings Unrest
The youth is accused of murdering Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
He allegedly wounded another eight children and two adults during the attack, which has sparked an outpouring of grief in Southport, a quiet seaside town.
False social media information about him contributed to violent clashes in Southport on Tuesday night, in which bricks were thrown at a mosque and 53 police officers were hurt.
Police have blamed members of the far-right English Defence League grouping, an Islamophobic organisation founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
The protests spread on Wednesday, including to Downing Street.
Protesters in London threw bottles at police and shouted, “We want our country back” and “Stop the boats” — the latter a reference to small boats bringing irregular migrants across the Channel.
AFP
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