British police declared early on Thursday, August 1st, they have charged a 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that left three little girls dead and several more in critical condition.
The Merseyside Police force said the teenager, who has not been named because of his age, faces three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder over people injured in the attack during a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance and yoga class. He is due to appear in court in Liverpool later Thursday.
About two dozen children were attending the summer vacation workshop on Monday when an attacker with a knife burst in. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, died from their injuries. Ten other people were injured, among whom five girls and two adults are in critical condition.
Far right demonstrators have launched several violent protests, ostensibly in response to the attack, clashing with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday. A few hundred protesters hurled beer cans and flares near British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's residence in Downing Street in central London on Wednesday evening. More than 100 people were arrested for offenses including violent disorder and assault on an emergency worker, London's Metropolitan Police force said. Starmer condemned the "thuggery" and said the protesters "hijacked" the community's grief.
Police also faced violent demonstrators in the town of Hartlepool in northeast England, as far-right groups seek to stir anger over an attack they have sought to link – without evidence – to immigrants.
"I am absolutely appalled and disgusted at the level of violence that was shown towards my officers," Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said. "Some of the first responders who attended that awful scene on Monday... then were faced with that level of violence." Five men have been arrested in connection with the riots in Southport, mainly for violent disorder; one was arrested for possessing a knife and fighting. Kennedy said more arrests were expected.