Three people have been arrested after 54 officers were injured during a riot in Southport over a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class that left three children dead.
Last night, far-right yobs travelled from across the UK to the seaside town in Merseyside to wreak havoc, with rioters attacking a mosque and destroying locals’ front garden walls to use bricks as missiles.
Residents were trapped in their homes as thugs ran riot, with one shopkeeper saying he lost £10,000 of stock when rioters looted his shop and nearly burned it down.
Hooligans also threw bins and bollards at officers and set fire to police vehicles and wheelie bins during the lawless rampage. Footage showed a line of riot police attempting in vain to push the rioters back down the street.
The chaos came shortly after a peaceful vigil last night where thousands of mourners had gathered to remember six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, who were stabbed to death on Monday.
Some 54 officers were hurt in the ‘sustained and vicious attack’ by rioters, including one female officer with a broken nose. Sir Keir Starmer promised the angry mob would face ‘the full force of the law’ following the ugly clashes.
As the town reels from the shock of the past few days, national conversations are being had over whether ‘various groups’ should be banned, including the English Defence League.
Riot police hold back protesters near a burning police vehicle after disorder broke out in Southport
A police van was set on fire near a mosque in Southport on Tuesday evening as riots broke out
Protesters cheer as they launch bins at riot police vans amid ugly scenes in Southport
A wounded police officer with blood pouring down his head after being caught up in the riots
Riot police vans were damaged amid the chaos near the Southport Mosque
The burnt out police van lies in the aftermath of the riots last night as as it sits charred in the middle of the road
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets last night
Six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine were killed in a ‘ferocious’ knife attack during a Taylor Swift event
The deputy PM said the government ‘will look at various different groups’ amid widespread condemnation of violence that broke out after the horrific knife attack on children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
She suggested ministers would consider banning the English Defence League (EDL).
Between 200 and 300 people were involved in the violence, with three arrested so far and police promising more are on the way.
Angry politicians have blamed ‘lies and propaganda’ on social media for igniting the chaos, while heartbroken Southport families have accused hoodlums of showing ‘no respect to a town that is grieving’.
Speaking this afternoon, Serena Kennedy, chief constable of Merseyside Police, said 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.’
In a statement released shortly afterwards, Merseyside Police said a 31-year-old man from St Helens, a 31-year-old man from West Derby and a 39-year-old man from Southport were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.
A 32-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of affray and possession of a bladed article.
A spokesperson 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.
‘Three police dogs were also injured. After having bricks thrown at them, Police Dog Zoe sustained a laceration to her leg, has been stitched and is now resting, and PD Ike is recovering after sustaining a cut mouth and swelling to his front leg.
‘PD Quga suffered burns to her back leg. A fourth dog, PD Repo, was spared injury after their handler kicked petrol away.’
Residents’ footage showed a boy was throwing a missile at police and then being given a congratulatory hug by a man who may have been his father.
Serena Kennedy, chief constable of Merseyside Police, gave a press conference on the riots this afternoon
She was seen helping to repair a wall which was destroyed by rioters, who used the bricks as missiles against officers
Today floral tributes, balloons and soft toys covered the street near the police cordon
The Malakar family live on Sussex Road where the rioting was going on. The parents were originally immigrants from India and their three children were born in the UK.
But they feared their ethnicity would make them a target and locked their doors, turned their lights out and hid inside.
University student Raj Malakar, 19, told the Mail: ‘It was crazy to witness everything. I don’t see any justifiable point at what they were doing. It was heinous.
‘It was frightening, we were fearful for our own safety. Due to our ethnic origin we closed all the blinds, turned the lights off and hid ourselves inside. We were all very shaken and my mum didn’t sleep last night. We didn’t know what would happen to us.
‘I came home from university expecting to relax for three months and this happens.’
Footage shows thugs smashing their front garden wall and using the bricks as ammunition.
A few doors down the road Denise Mace, 51, and her chef husband Graham, 52, watched from inside also fearing for their safety and worrying their car parked outside would be smashed up.
As the police were forced back they quietly pleaded with officers to hold their ground as they filmed from an upstairs window.
‘It was terrifying, absolutely horrendous. We didn’t know if they would come into our house. We were very lucky compared to other people. We were scared they would break in.’
Mrs Mace, a care consultant, said the local imam used to live next door and was a ‘beautiful man.’
‘He would bring us food at Ramadan,’ she said. ‘This is not Southport, it was by senseless yobs who have come here for a fight.
Chanaka Balasuriya, 48, (pictured) a married father-of-two who runs the Windsor Mini Mart, said the yobs smashed his windows, damaged his shutters and stole thousands of pounds of stock, which is not covered by insurance
When the yobs began to smash his shop door down he called 999 but police were unable to stop them. ‘They couldn’t come closer,’ he said. ‘About 60 or 70 people forced their way into the shop. They mainly took all the expensive stuff like cigarettes and alcohol. Luckily they didn’t damage my fridges’
Three girls were killed in a bloody rampage on Hart Street on Monday. On Tuesday, a vigil was held for the victims on Lord Street. While it was going on, a man with a flick knife was arrested on Eastbank Street. On St Luke’s Road, riots erupted outside a mosque – also on Tuesday
Riot police with shields and helmets hold back protesters after disorder broke out
Rioters wearing masks launch missiles towards police officers in Southport
Smoke is seen billowing from a police van which was set ablaze. The mosque is seen on the right
Pensioner May Small, 71, and husband David, 73, watched on helplessly as they yobs broke a neighbour’s wall, took bricks from their wall and attacked police.
She said she was alerted by a commotion and then saw the rioters just ‘piling in.’
‘It was frightening. They were throwing bottles, taking down walls and throwing bricks. I was stood outside watching and then backed away into my doorway. They even came down the path looking for missiles and I told them to clear off.’
She said she has lived in the street for ‘many years’ and there has never been trouble before.’
The pensioner added defiantly: ‘I would like to kick their arse, but you can’t can you?’
A shopkeeper was forced to watch on CCTV as rioters broke into his corner shop and looted the contents.
Chanaka Balasuriya, 48, a married father-of-two who runs the Windsor Mini Mart, said the yobs smashed his windows, damaged his shutters and stole thousands of pounds of stock, which is not covered by insurance.
England flags were on display at the anti-Muslim demonstration in Southport
Hundreds of protesters, many masked, battled with riot police officers
A burnt out police van near a mosque in Southport as shocking riots broke out on Tuesday
Around 200 protesters were seen taking to the streets. Police believe many were EDL supporters
He had shut the shop for an hour while the vigil was going on in the town out of ‘respect for the three girls’ who died.
Mr Balauriya reopened the shop after 7pm but decided to close his business early to go home as strangers were arriving in force.
‘A neighbour came over and told me ‘don’t stay, go.”
Over the next few hours he monitored his internal and external CCTV cameras as the rioters caused chaos.
‘There was hundreds and hundreds of people and they got metal poles to use as weapons,’ he said.
When the yobs began to smash his shop door down he called 999 but police were unable to stop them. ‘They couldn’t come closer,’ he said.
‘About 60 or 70 people forced their way into the shop. They mainly took all the expensive stuff like cigarettes and alcohol. Luckily they didn’t damage my fridges.
The coastal community united to bring order back to their quiet streets – on local Facebook groups some offered their rooms to people who needed a safe space, while others organised clean up crews to remove the carnage of the night before (pictured)
A hanging basket of purple flowers were delivered to the religious centre, which became as a focus for last night’s violence
Local crews worked hard in the early morning to rid the streets of rubble as they brought in machinery
‘It’s pretty awful we have a very nice, quiet area and everyone is coming in to help.’
An added blow is that he had no insurance to cover the cost of the damage.
‘I lived in London for years and moved here to start this business four years ago. I have no insurance.’
He said he only restocked the shop the day before as he had been on holiday and returned to ‘do shopping.’ Now much of what he bought has been stolen.
‘I will definitely keep going. This is my everything.’
Commenting on the riots, he said: ‘These people are sick. They had a different agenda, they have not come to protest they came for something else. It’s not right.’
Robert Whitfield, 68, and his wife Helen, 51, run their own plumbing business and returned to their office opposite the mosque when they heard about the riots.
A police van was set on fire outside their business, burning the roadway, and their windows and frames were damaged.
A traffic cone is hurled by a masked man at a police officer near to a mosque in Southport
Rioters were seen jumping on police vans as things got out of control
Protesters cheer as they launch bins at riot police vans amid ugly scenes in Southport
Mrs Whitfield said: ‘It was frightening, thinking ‘that’s our business what’s going to happen to it.”
The couple described the riot as ‘outrageous’ and said the stabbings were ‘nothing to do with it.’
A worshipper at a mosque attacked by far-right thugs also told today how he and four others continued to pray while windows were being smashed in from bricks hurled at the building.
Iqbal Ahmed, 32, was trapped inside Southport Islamic Society Mosque for five and a half hours as hundreds of rioters pelted police with bricks, concrete and fireworks outside.
The yobs also torched a police van and set alight a clothes bin outside the mosque.
Merseyside Police say the violence broke out following false rumours blaming a Muslim migrant for the murders of three young girls at a Taylor Swift dance workshop in Southport on Monday morning.
Mr Ahmed said he arrived for prayers at 7.30pm and was taunted with racist insults before heading to an upstairs prayer room where he and the others were forced to take shelter until 1am this morning.
As well as dodging broken glass, he said rioters were making sinister phone calls to the mosque on withheld numbers throughout the night threatening to kill them and their families.
His Volkswagen car, parked outside the mosque, also had its windscreen shattered by a hooded rioter.
The aftermath of the riots, where police vans were burnt and rocks were launched
Tensions flared in Southport last night, with police saying supporters of the EDL were targeting the mosque
Workers remove debris from the scene after a night of disorder in Southport
The car outside the religious building has been smashed following the rioting last night
A car with a baby seat in front of the mosque had its windows smashed
CCTV from the mosque caught the moment the yob jumped up onto his car bonnet and aimed a brick through the window, having been directed to do so by another man.
Mr Ahmed said today: ‘I thought they were going to kill someone. It was ferocious, I didn’t expect that level of violence. It was shocking.
‘We were aware that there was a protest planned outside the mosque and some worshippers stayed away but I’ve been coming here all my life.
‘I thought there would be a few guys standing on the corner shouting abuse and insults but that would be it. I don’t think anyone was prepared for the mayhem that ensued.
‘I drove here around 7.30pm last night and as soon as I got out of the car I had men screaming ‘paedo’ and ‘rapist’ at me and saying ‘This is all your fault’.
‘Most of them were outsiders who none of us had ever seen before but I recognised one lad who was giving me abuse. I told him to come say it to my face but he refused.
Volunteers sweep Sussex road as they pile rubbish off the streets and clean up
Damaged clothing bins on Sussex Road in Southport, Merseyside appear to have burn marks
‘Prayers were at 8.30pm and it was in a room upstairs. As the Imam led the prayers we could hear the thud of the bricks against the wall and the windows smashing but we carried on praying through it all. I was so proud that I had tears in my eyes.
‘I wanted to leave after prayers but the situation was much too dangerous.
‘The police who were guarding the mosque were being attacked from everywhere and a police van was set alight.
‘A clothing bin outside the mosque was also torched and flames were shooting upwards. I ran downstairs fearing the mosque itself was on fire but fortunately it wasn’t.
‘The missiles being thrown was constant. There were hundreds of bricks thrown at the mosque, but look at it – a house of worship – and it’s relatively unscathed. I think it’s a miracle!
‘My car was attacked, though, and the windscreen put through but it’s just a piece of metal and glass.
‘My family were worried about my safety but I was concerned for my younger sister, Amina, who was trapped in her car outside the mosque. She’d been driving home at the time and couldn’t get anywhere because of the rioting.
Volunteers clean Sussex road, after violent protest following a vigil for victims of the knife attack in Southport
The clear-up continues in Southport, Merseyside, following last nights disorder in the town
‘She was forced to remove her headscarf so the racists didn’t spot that she was a Muslim.’
Iqbal said one of those he was taking shelter with in the mosque was a white British convert who switched to Islam a year ago.
He added: ‘What did he make of all this? What does his family think?
‘As well as hearing the bricks and bottles smash against the windows and all the shouting and abuse outside, people were also calling the mosque all through the night on withheld phone numbers threatening us and our families.
‘We were eventually given the all-clear to leave around 1am and the whole street looked like a war zone. There was debris all over the road from where brick walls had been pulled down.
‘Shards of glass were all over the street, burning wheelie bins and vehicles were still smouldering and injured police officers were being bandaged up.
‘The police risked their lives to keep us safe and I’m so grateful to them.
‘But all the thugs who rioted have done is make this the talking point now and not the senseless, tragic deaths of three small girls who had their whole lives ahead of them.
‘Fortunately we have metal grills over the windows so that gave us some added protection.’
