Police say three arrests made in connection with Southport riot and that "more will follow" The chief constable of Merseyside Police, Serena Kennedy, said three arrests have been made in connection with last night’s riots in Southport and that “more will follow”, BBC News reports. “It’s impossible to say [how many will be arrested]. It’s really early days in the investigation,” she told reporters, estimating that about 200 to 300 people were involved in the disorder. Kennedy added: 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. Afternoon summary Four people have been arrested in connection with the violent protests that broke out last night in Southport following a vigil for the victims of Monday’s knife attack, police said. The Merseyside chief constable, Serena Kennedy, said more arrests will follow. Of the 53 police officers injured, 49 were said to be Merseyside police officers and four were from Lancashire constabulary. Merseyside police said eight officers sustained serious injuries including fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose and concussion and were treated in hospital. Local residents said rioters attacked a mosque and used bricks as missiles last night. Many helped with the clean-up operation throughout the day to repair the damage caused by the disorder. Southport’s MP, Patrick Hurley, said the violent rioters were not local to the area and must face the “full force of the law”. He said the riots occurred because of the “propaganda and lies” spread on social media about the identity of the attacker. “These people are utterly disrespecting the families of the dead and injured children and utterly disrespecting the town,” the MP told the BBC. Police believe those involved in the violent unrest included supporters of the English Defence League (EDL). Humza Yousaf, the former first minister of Scotland, called for the EDL to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation after the riots. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were all fatally stabbed in Southport on Monday. Jenni Stancombe, Elsie’s mother, wrote on Facebook: “This is the only thing that I will write, but please please stop the violence in Southport tonight. The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don’t need this.” A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons because of his age, remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder. The only details released about the suspect by police are that he is a 17-year-old from the village of Banks in Lancashire, who was born in Cardiff. Police have said that, although the motive for the attack was unclear, it was not believed to be terror-related. On Wednesday, detectives were granted more time to question the teenager. Four arrests made after Southport riot, police say in update Merseyside police have just released an update saying a total of four men have been arrested and taken into custody following last night’s riots. A 31-year-old man from St Helens was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder A 31-year-old man from West Derby, Liverpool was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder A 39-year-old man from Southport was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder A 32-year-old man from Manchester with a probation address in Southport was arrested on suspicion of affray and possession of a bladed article. In a statement, the police said: The offenders destroyed garden walls to use the bricks as missiles to attack officers and set cars belonging to the public on fire at random. Those involved also threw bricks at the local mosque, damaged a local convenience store, and set wheelie bins on fire. As we have been reporting throughout the day, volunteers have been trying to repair some of the damaged caused by the riot last night, with many people sweeping streets and rebuilding walls in the clean up effort. Here is a video of members of the Southport community coming together to clean up the streets: Police say three arrests made in connection with Southport riot and that "more will follow" The chief constable of Merseyside Police, Serena Kennedy, said three arrests have been made in connection with last night’s riots in Southport and that “more will follow”, BBC News reports. “It’s impossible to say [how many will be arrested]. It’s really early days in the investigation,” she told reporters, estimating that about 200 to 300 people were involved in the disorder. Kennedy added: 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. The only details released about the suspect by police are that he is a 17-year-old from the village of Banks in Lancashire, who was born in Cardiff. But on Tuesday night a protest by hundreds of far-right activists, believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, saw missiles thrown at police and a local mosque attacked. The incident became the latest to raise questions about the policing of content by social media companies, and official watchdogs, and whether the law is fit is for purpose. A prominent British conspiracy theorist had earlier been filming at the crime scene. A YouTube video where he calls for emergency military rule and mass deportations received 30,000 views in the two hours after it was posted on Tuesday. The ‘“source’” for the false name of the attacker appears to be a website seen by the Guardian calling itself Channel 3 Now, which mixes potentially AI-generated US and UK news content and is styled like a mainstream American network news channel. It did not reply to requests for comment from the Guardian or provide details of who owns or runs it. The name and other false claims about the suspect were being shared by influencers on platforms such as TikTok. One such video, also seen by the Guardian, from a self-styled social media influencer and Reform UK supporter who goes by the name of brucesrandomness, had been viewed nearly 800,000 times. The same influencer posted a subsequent video in which he apologised for “probably incorrectly” naming the suspect after seeing “some headlines over the internet” and acting out of anger. He has been approached for comment, as has TikTok. However, more established far-right actors and disseminators of conspiracy theories who found new supporters during the Covid-19 pandemic have been quick to seize on the attack. The PA news agency has explained why the identity of the teenager arrested over the Southport stabbings has not been made public. It reports: Detectives have been given more time to question the 17-year-old over the incident and he remains in custody after being detained on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. No charges have been brought. At this stage, the boy has not been identified because of his age amid active ongoing criminal proceedings. The criminal age of responsibility in England and Wales is 10 years old, meaning children aged between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime. The identity of defendants and witnesses under the age of 18 who are subject to criminal proceedings in youth courts is protected by automatic reporting restrictions under Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. If a child is charged with an offence and is facing criminal proceedings in adult courts - magistrates’ and crown courts - then magistrates and judges have legal powers to grant anonymity to a child defendant, witness or victim under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. Both of these laws ban the press from publishing a child defendant’s name or any detail which could lead to them being identified while the reporting restrictions remain in place. This is why media reports sometimes say they cannot identify a child involved in a criminal court case for legal reasons. The automatic restrictions technically begin once court proceedings are active - when a suspect has been charged and is appearing in court for the first time - which could give rise to questions as to why the teenager in the Southport case has still not been identified. But media organisations typically refrain from identifying any child arrested on suspicion of a crime, having considered their ethical and other legal responsibilities, because there is the prospect this could then lead to prosecution and court proceedings where the reporting restrictions in question will activate. Child defendants will remain anonymous throughout legal proceedings but these restrictions can be challenged - usually by reporters - after the court case has ended. If a child is convicted of a crime, having either pleaded guilty or been found guilty after a trial, magistrates and judges have powers to lift reporting restrictions so the defendant can be identified in some circumstances, including if this is considered in the public interest. Rioters will feel "full force of the law", Merseyside chief constable says Merseyside chief constable Serena Kennedy has said last night’s rioters will feel “the full force of the law”, adding that Merseyside police are “absolutely planning” for this evening and the weekend ahead, with extra support from other forces. Chris McGlade, chair of Merseyside Police Federation, said this morning that over 50 police officers were injured in the disorder last night. Kennedy now says 54 were hurt; 49 were from Merseyside police and others were from elsewhere, according to BBC News. Visiting the scene of Tuesday’s violence, she said this afternoon: I am absolutely appalled and disgusted at the level of violence that was shown towards my officers. These are the same officers who have been supporting this community for the last 48 hours. Some of the first responders who attended that awful scene on Monday and then were faced with that level of violence. Kennedy added: “They were there purely for hooliganism and thuggery.” Metro mayor of Liverpool Steve Rotheram said he had heard the opinion that protests began because of a “wall of silence” about what had happened. He said: Let’s be absolutely brutal and honest - what are those questions that remain unanswered? Well, the name of the individual. That’s because of legal reasons, that person’s 17. The one that social media wants to find out is the religion of that person. So you have to ask yourself the questions, why would anybody want to know the religion of the perpetrator of this vicious and heinous crime? And it’s to do exactly what we just talked about earlier, which is to stir up more tension in this community. Here are some of the latest images coming out of Southport from the newswires: Here are some of the latest images coming out of Southport from the newswires: Josh Halliday, the Guardian’s north of England editor, has been speaking to local people in Southport in the aftermath of the riots last night. Carol Hignett, 73, who lives opposite the Windsor mini-mart that was looted by rioters while some threw firebombs at police, said the street “looked like bloody Beirut first thing this morning”. “I’ve lived in Southport all my life and I have never, ever come across what went on last night,” she said from her front garden. Rioters had kicked down a garden wall outside the house of her next door neighbour, Carl Potter, 48, and searched through his shed for projectiles. Hignett said: “What went on last night has not helped them families [of the victims] in any way. They’ve got enough to deal with. “It’s normally a quiet road. You’ve got to be shaken up because nothing like this has ever happened before.” She said of the rioters: “Nobody’s on their side.” Hignett said she saw masked rioters hiding in residents’ gardens and changing their clothing in case they had been caught on camera. Potter said: Whoever organised that yesterday - they’re not from Southport. They can’t be. The community around here have really stepped up. People have been saying they will do free brickworks and help rebuild. In that way, it’s good. It’s people coming together. But it shouldn’t take that to happen. My heart’s still with what happened Monday. What happened down Hart Street has hit everybody hard. James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, said the government must come down “hard and fast” on rioters and online misinformation following disorder in Southport yesterday evening. The only details released about the suspect by police are that he is a 17-year-old from the village of Banks in Lancashire, who was born in Cardiff. But on Tuesday night a protest by hundreds of far-right activists, believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, saw missiles thrown at police and a local mosque attacked. Cleverly said on Wednesday: The violence we have seen in Southport is an insult to the memory of the victims of this heinous attack. These are not protesters fighting injustice, they are thugs fighting the police, tearing up a community that is already trying to process an unimaginable horror. They must be met with the full force of the law. People will understandably want to know how and why something so awful could have happened, but getting the right answers will take time. While we give the police space and time to do their job, we must have no truck with those spreading disinformation and fuelling conspiracy. The police, the home secretary and the government must come down on this hard and fast. As home secretary I took a clear and firm stance on protesters and civil disorder, and went to America to ensure the tech companies properly understood that the UK government expected them to step up to stop the spread of disinformation. They must do so now. We all have a duty to honour truth, respect our police, and check before we share. Home secretary will be "looking at" whether the EDL should be proscribed as terror group, Angela Rayner suggests The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, will “be looking at” whether the English Defence League (EDL) should be proscribed under terrorism laws following the riot in Southport, Angela Rayner has suggested, according to the PA news agency. Rayner, the deputy prime minister, was quoted as having said: 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… 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. Following Rayner’s comment, Cooper was asked whether she is looking at proscribing the EDL or Tommy Robinson-linked groups but her spokesperson declined to comment, saying they never say which organisations are under consideration or a ban. It comes after Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former first minister, called for the EDL, a far-right, Islamophobic group founded in 2009 by Robinson, to be proscribed under terrorism laws following the riot (see post at 11.17 for more details). In a letter to Cooper, Yousaf claimed “Britain has a far-Right problem”, urging her to use anti-terrorism powers to make membership of the group illegal. This report is from our north of England editor, Josh Halliday, who has been at the scene in Southport. Local residents had shown their support for Southport mosque by bringing flowers, candles and treats including medjoul dates, maltesers and donuts for the worshippers outside the damaged building. Bricks were thrown through the window of the grand mosque and a car parked outside had its windscreen smashed when disorder broke out on Tuesday night. The mosque chairman Ibrahim Hussein told the Guardian how he had been “barricaded” inside the building with eight worshippers when hundreds of rioters descended on the mosque. He said: “It really was terrifying and it was uncalled for. There was no reason for it whatsoever. We just have to keep on going, there’s nothing else we can do”. Hussein said he watched the riot unfold: “I can’t describe it really. It was awful - not very nice”. “There was fire going on. The heat was coming through the window. If you go in the office today, after all this time, the smell of smoke is still around”. He added: “The community are wonderful. Whoever did this was outside of Southport. They are not part of Southport at all. This is not the character of the people of Southport. “Southport people are like you see in front of you here,” he said, gesturing to the flowers, food and soft drinks that had been donated just hours after the riot. “They are beautiful people. They support us and we support them and we love each other and we’ve been living in harmony for 30 years, so it’s not going to change now just because a few idiots have put something on social media”. Neha Gohil is community affairs correspondent at the Guardian A resident who has always lived in Southport but did not want to be named described the riots as an “insult to the families of all affected”. “I have attended the mosque since it opened about 30 years ago…I was saddened, for a town in grief from what happened on Monday. It was an insult to the families of all affected and the Southport community as a whole. “As a collective we are all grieving as a consequence of what happened on Monday…My overriding feeling is sympathy for all the families affected by Monday and a community in mourning.” Here are some more quotes from Southport mosque chairman Ibrahim Hussein, who said earlier that he was trapped in the mosque with about eight others as the violence erupted in Southport last night (see post at 12.21 for more details). He said at one point he believed the rioters would break into the sacred building. Hussein said: “We don’t know why we are the focus of these people who came round throwing abuse and throwing missiles and throwing bricks. We don’t know why we’re being targeted in that way.” He said he understood why the 17-year-old arrested over the deaths of the three children on Monday had yet to be named, adding: “It’s not for me to say what the police should or shouldn’t do.” Hussein added: But it would have been helpful if they (the police) had said that he is not Muslim. I would love them to do that. Not that that it makes a big difference because, even if he is a Muslim, why should that reflect on the whole community?