Police release images of wanted Southport 'rioters' a year after knife attack which sparked nationwide disorder

Daily Mail​

a day ago

Police are still on the hunt for dozens of suspected rioters a year after the Southport attack which sparked nationwide disorder.
Triple murderer, Axel Rudakubana, 18, stormed into a Taylor Swift themed class with a kitchen knife, injuring several children and adults on July 29, 2024.
In a brutal attack that shocked the nation, the 'sadistic' killer murdered Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, for which he was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years behind bars.
In the wake of the murders, disorder quickly spread across the country, amid false rumours that Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Birtain on a small boat.
Researchers say there were at least 27 million impressions on social media posts wrongly stating or speculating that the alleged attacker was Muslim, a migrant, refugee or foreigner.
A total of 1,876 rioters were arrested and 1,110 charged so far in connection with the unrest that first broke in the days after the triple killing that engulfed the nation in a wave of violence.
Data tracking cases related to the disorder shows 821 defendants out of 859 were convicted by the end of March this year, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
And now, a year later, police are still tracking down around 40 suspects across five forces, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cleveland, Northumbria and Avon and Somerset, setting up a website with their details.
And the National Police Chief's Council hopes there latest bid to find suspected rioters will serve as a warning to troublemakers to avoid a repeat of unrest this year.
Last summer's disturbances, which saw mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers targeted, were denounced at the time as 'far-right thuggery' by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Local and social media appeals of the suspects have already been used in a bid to try and track suspects down but have now resorted to a nationwide appeal as, by now, they could have travelled into the area from another part of the country.
Assistant Chief Constable Ian Drummond-Smith, who led the national response to investigating last year's riots, said: 'One year on, we've still got some people who we have got good images of and we haven't yet identified.
'I think the key thing is having a good image of someone is one thing, knowing who they are is another. We're asking the public to have a look, and if they recognise anyone in those images, to let us know who they are and bring them to justice.'
He added: 'We have a duty to facilitate protest but what we saw last year, and in a few isolated cases this year, is where it's gone to criminality and to serious disorder.
'In those cases what I think we can learn from last year is that justice will be swift, and I hope that that would be a deterrent to anyone thinking about engaging in serious disorder this year.
'We've made effective use of CCTV, bodyworn video, and we've been able to bring a lot of people in front of the courts.'
It comes as several protests have been held in different parts of the country amid unrest surrounding hotels believed to be housing migrants.
In Epping, multiple protests have happened in recent weeks outside The Bell Hotel after an asylum-seeker was charged with allegedly with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.
Additional 'anti-immigration' protests have happened in both Bowthorpe, Norwich as well as Canary Wharf and Islington, London, with other demonstrations occurring in other parts of the country.
The police chief also said officers are working 'very hard' to contain the 'small pockets' of disorder this year, adding they have been 'isolated' due to 'swift police response'.
'If we can respond to serious disorder swiftly, I think we can contain that and prevent it from spreading across the country, so that's what we're working very hard on,' he said.
Since last year, Mr Drummond-Smith said police have 'sharpened' their ability top mobilise quickly and distribute resources around the country.