Huge crowds chanting ‘English till I die’ have clashed with police outside a mosque in Southport near to where three girls were killed in a horrific knife rampage on Monday.
PROTEST AND BRAWL
As thousands of mourners attended an emotional vigil in Southport on Tuesday night, protests broke out on the streets surrounding Hart Street, where the attack took place.
Riot officers have descended on the scene as they try to control the violence which has broken out amid speculation over the identity of the suspect.
The ugly scenes, which has seen a police van set on fire outside a mosque, comes as Merseyside Police issued a warning after an ‘incorrect’ name for the alleged Southport attacker was widely circulated online.Â
CULPRIT ARRESTED
A 17-year-old boy, originally from Cardiff but from the nearby village of Banks, remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder.
WHY THE PROTEST?
The violence appears to have been fuelled by false claims that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat have spread online.
Merseyside Police said: ‘We would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing.’
Video has emerged of hundreds of protesters surrounding police vans and launching missiles at officers forcing them to flee.
Video has emerged of hundreds of protesters surrounding police vans and launching missiles at officers forcing them to flee.
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Others were seen trying to damage police vans as anger grows over the horrifying knife attack at a Taylor Swift themed dance holiday camp in Southport Monday.
THE 3 GIRLS STABBED
The three girls stabbed to death were today named by police as six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe.
They were among 11 children stabbed during a ‘ferocious’ knife attack which left mothers picking up their children screaming in horror.
Five further children, aged between six and 11, are in a critical condition alongside two female adults, among them hero yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who ‘bravely tried to protect them’.