Keir
Starmer says Southport rioters will feel ‘full force of the law’
Far-right
protesters threw bricks at officers, set vehicles on fire and attacked mosque
Hannah
Al-Othman, Josh Halliday, Nadeem Badshah and Vikram Dodd
Wed 31 Jul
2024 02.05 BST
Keir Starmer
has said those who rioted in Southport on Tuesday night will “feel the full
force of the law” after police vehicles were set alight and missiles hurled at
officers.
It came
after far-right protesters pelted police with glass bottles and bricks and
attacked a mosque following a knife attack that killed three children.
The prime
minister said they had “hijacked the vigil for the victims with violence and
thuggery” and “insulted the community as it grieves”.
Thirty-nine
police officers sustained injuries, North West Ambulance Service said, with 27
of them taken to hospital. Merseyside police said eight officers suffered
serious injuries including fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose and
a concussion. Other officers suffered head injuries and serious facial
injuries, and one was knocked unconscious.
Three police
dogs were also injured, with two sustaining leg injuries from having bricks
thrown at them and a third suffering burns to her back leg.
As officers
from five forces struggled to bring the disorder under control, police
introduced a 24-hour section 60 order giving officers enhanced stop and search
powers, and a section 34 dispersal order allowing police to seize any item,
including vehicles, used to commit anti-social behaviour, as well as being able
to tell people to leave the area.
Assistant
Chief Constable Alex Goss said: “Sadly, offenders have destroyed garden walls
so they could use the bricks to attack our officers and have set cars belonging
to the public on fire, and damaged cars parked in the mosque car park.
“This is no
way to treat a community, least of all a community that is still reeling from
the events of Monday.”
He appealed
for “anyone who has information or video footage of those involved in this
shocking behaviour to come forward so we can identify and arrest those
responsible”.
The protest
was due to start at 8pm but the streets began filling before then, with scenes
rapidly turning violent.
Protesters
barricaded themselves down a side street, dragging bins from a pub and
industrial unit to provide more missiles to throw at police.
Others
turned on a nearby mosque, throwing bricks through the windows, and later, as
darkness fell, one group of men ripped up a driveway to arm themselves with
stones to throw at police, while across the road, another group tried to force
entry to a corner shop.
As darkness
fell, smaller groups dispersed and roamed the streets, setting fires in the
road. Residents’ walls and fences were pulled down; the bricks used as
missiles, and the wooden panels added to the fire.
Police from
four neighbouring forces were called in as officers struggled to bring the
situation under control.
Alice
Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were all
fatally stabbed in the attack on Monday. Eight other children suffered stab
wounds and five were left in a critical condition, alongside two adults who
were also critically injured.
In the
aftermath of the attack, for which a 17-year-old was arrested, several false
accusations were spread on social media with incorrect names of the attacker.
The only details released about the suspect by police described him as a
17-year-old from the village of Banks in Lancashire who was born in Cardiff.
On Wednesday
morning, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) paid tribute to the three girls
killed, before condemning “shocking scenes of far-right rioters running amok
outside a mosque”. The MCB called it an Islamophobic backlash that began with a
false rumour on the internet.
The MCB
secretary general, Zara Mohammed, said: “At a time of great tragedy, loss, and
mourning, we must stand firm against the cynical forces of hatred and division.
This does not represent our diverse Britain and the people of Southport.”
The online
misinformation was earlier condemned by the home secretary, Yvette Cooper. On
Tuesday night she said it was “appalling” police officers in Southport were
facing attacks from “thugs on the streets who have no respect for a grieving
community”, adding: “It’s a total disgrace.”
Hundreds of
people had taken part in a peaceful vigil on Tuesday evening outside
Southport’s Atkinson arts venue, with many in tears as they laid flowers and
cards of remembrance. But the vigil was followed by a far-right protest outside
a local mosque, which quickly turned violent.
Demonstrators
gathered in the area surrounding Hart Street, where Monday’s killings took
place. The crowd of hundreds were heard shouting Islamophobic slogans as well
as “no surrender”, “English till I die” and “we want our country back” as a
police helicopter circled overhead.
Riot police
charged at the demonstrators after a police van was set alight and other police
vehicles were damaged . Officers used teargas on the angry crowds of
predominantly men covering their faces.
Some
officers were injured after plant pots and empty bins were among the missiles
hurled at them and the Southport mosque building. A group of people attempted
to overturn a riot van. Some men were seen pulling down a crumbling wall to use
the bricks as weapons, pelting officers with them. Others ripped open black bin
bags looking for objects to throw.
Some
spectators watched from front gardens, while passersby looked on, saying: “I
can’t believe it, it’s horrible isn’t it?” Another said: “This doesn’t achieve
anything.”
Southport’s
MP, Patrick Hurley, said he condemned any attack on emergency services, adding:
“These are the same services that responded to the tragic attack yesterday.
“I want to
thank our community for pulling together and supporting every person who has
been affected by Monday’s tragic attack,” he said. “Nowhere was this more
evident than the solidarity, remembrance and sympathy heard at today’s vigil.”
The violence
was so serious that Merseyside police were forced to call in reinforcements.
Officers were rushed in from north Wales, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and
Cheshire. In a tweet, Merseyside police said: “Officers who had completed a
shift in work today are back on duty supporting colleagues in Southport.”
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