Southport: Merseyside Chief Constable ‘concerned’ far-right riots will be repeated as four arrested

Granada Reports Ann O'Connor was reporting live in Southport when the rioting broke out

Merseyside Police’s Chief Constable has voiced concerns about a repeat of violent disorder in Southport after "violent thugs" protested outside of a mosque.

Serena Kennedy said she understood communities in the grieving town were “really worried”, adding that the force is "planning for this evening and for the weekend ahead".

Four men were arrested after hundreds of people, believed to be members of the English Defence League, were involved in rioting near the town's mosque on Tuesday, police said.

Speaking on Wednesday, Ms Kennedy said: “We are being really well supported by police forces across the North West to make sure we have got sufficient resources so that we don’t see a repeat of last night.”

Serena Kennedy said the force is "planning" for any further violent disorders this evening and the weekend ahead.

The chief constable said 54 officers, including 49 from Merseyside Police and four from Lancashire, were injured in the riot, hours after a peaceful vigil to remember three murdered children.

Three girls – Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven – were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift holiday workshop on Monday, 29 July.

Eight other children suffered knife wounds – five of whom are in a critical condition - and two adults were also critically hurt.

Detectives investigating the knife attack have been granted more time to question the 17-year-old suspect who was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Granada Reports Elaine Willcox reports on the clean-up after the riots

Teachers from Elsie's school lay flowers at the scene on Wednesday.

A police cordon remains in place on Hart Street, two days after the attack, with mourners continue to lay flowers, balloons and messages of condolences for loved ones.

Representatives from Farnborough Road Infant School, where Elsie attended, visited the scene on Wednesday to lay their own floral tributes.

The suspect, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is from the village of Banks, just outside Southport.

Police have said that, although the motive for the attack is unclear, it is not believed to be terror-related.

Merseyside Police has confirmed that four men were arrested in connection with the disorder on Tuesday and taken into custody.

She estimated 200 to 300 people were involved, adding said: “Initially, there were about 70 people who made their way away from the vigil and were making their way towards the mosque.

“They suddenly became about 200 in number and then others joined that number.”

Angela Rayner has criticised the “disgraceful” rioting in Southport and “disrespectful” social media theories as she urged people to allow the police to establish the facts.

Speaking on ITV’s This Morning, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “I think there’s been a couple of instances recently where, especially particularly online, where theories and things are whipped up, whereas actually it turns out to be not true or not the full picture.

“And I think there’s a culture now where people want to instantly get the facts, but actually it’s important that police and those people that are doing the work are able to carry out that work.

"And it’s important for justice as well, because we have law and order in the UK, and it’s important that those authorities are able to establish the facts and then to be able to bring those forward.

“But speculation and some of the untruths that have been put around social media, not only is that creating tensions and fear in the community, but it’s disrespectful to family who maybe want those answers that haven’t got those answers.”

She added that it is “really unhelpful for the police” and “my plea is that we all need to step back and just wait and then that information will come but allow the police to do their work”.

Ms Rayner has also suggested today that the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will "be looking at" whether the English Defence League should be proscribed under terrorism laws following the riot in Southport.

"We have laws and we have proscribed groups and we do look at that and it is reviewed regularly. So I'm sure that that will be something that the Home Secretary will be looking at as part of the normal course of what we do and the intelligence that we have.

"But I think the bigger issue is about taking on the minority of people that have got thuggish behaviour, that actually that's not our British values."

Ms Rayner added: "The inciting of violence and violence on the street has absolutely no place in our democracy, and we have to crack down on those that perpetuate violence and spread it within our communities."

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