LONDON: A teenager appeared in court Thursday charged with murdering three girls in a stabbing attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party as violent protests over the attack erupted in several English cities.
Axel Rudakubana, 17, faces three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder following the killings Monday in Southport, northwest England.
The attack has shocked the country, and false information online about the background of the suspect led to far-right agitators targetting a mosque and clashing with police in Southport.
This combination of pictures created on July 30, 2024 shows handout pictures released by Merseyside Police in London on July 30, 2024, of Alice Dasilva Aguiar (L), Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Bebe King, who died after a mass stabbing in Southport, northern England. (AFP)
Protests also rocked London, and the northern cities of Hartlepool and Manchester on Wednesday night. Police arrested more than 100 people outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official Downing Street residence.
Starmer was to hold an emergency meeting Thursday with police chiefs seeking to quell the unrest.
Rudakubana was remanded in a youth detention center during a hearing at Liverpool’s crown court, where a judge lifted normal court reporting restrictions for a minor, ruling that he could be named.
“Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum,” said judge Andrew Menary, lifting the restriction.
While the suspect would normally have had anonymity because of his age, he would in any case have lost it when he turned 18 next Wednesday.
Rudakubana wore a grey tracksuit sweatshirt and at times rocked back and forth and side to side.
The youth is accused of murdering Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
He allegedly wounded another eight children and two adults during the attack, which has sparked an outpouring of grief in Southport, a quiet seaside town.
False social media information about him contributed to violent clashes in Southport on Tuesday night, in which bricks were thrown at a mosque and 53 police officers were hurt.
Police have blamed members of the far-right English Defense League grouping, an Islamophobic organization founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
The protests spread on Wednesday, including to Downing Street.
Protesters in London threw bottles at police and shouted, “We want our country back” and “Stop the boats” — the latter a reference to small boats bringing irregular migrants across the Channel.
In Hartlepool, northeast England, demonstrators set fire to police cars and threw objects at officers. Police said they had made eight arrests.
Hartlepool police said officers faced “missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them, with several suffering minor injuries.”
At the meeting with police chiefs, Starmer will pay tribute to the bravery of emergency service workers, a statement by the prime minister’s office said.
He will also say that while the right to protest must be protected, “criminals who exploit that right in order to sow hatred and carry out violent acts will face the full force of the law.”
The Labour government has vowed to clamp down on crime and antisocial behavior.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper promised to ramp up the presence of community police “in every corner of the country.”
Starmer will tell police leaders “that they should not hesitate to use their powers to stop mindless violence in its tracks and make sure justice is served,” the statement from his office said.
A photograph taken on July 30 2024, shows a statement posted on Instagram by US Singer-Songwriter Taylor Swift following the July 29 stabbing rampage at the Hart Space dance studio in Southport, England. (AFP)
