'Information vacuum' about Southport stabbing led to 'false stories' and rioting

The terrorism watchdog has warned that an "information vacuum" about mass casualty events like the Southport stabbing can lead to the prominence of false stories. Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, called for more information to be made public in the event of attacks to prevent the undermining of trust in public organisations.

Mr Hall said one of the problems highlighted by the Southport mass stabbing, that led to rioting both on Merseyside and across the country, was the lack of information. Three young children - Bebe King, Alice Da Silva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe - died and a number of other people were seriously injured in the stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on July 29 in Southport.

Speaking at a conference organised by the think tank Counter Extremism Group, Mr Hall said public organisations including the police, government and media will lose the public's trust if "there is any sense that things are being hidden and that is exactly what the conspiracy theorists and the grievance merchants depend upon".

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As first reported by the Times who were at the conference, Mr Hall said people "undoubtedly fed upon the information vacuum by circulating false stories and they appear to have incited and enraged and inspired people to those really bad attacks by the absence of information in circumstances where people were dying".

On June 30, the day after the mass stabbing, a peaceful protest was held in Southport for the young girls who died. However, close to a mosque around half a mile away from the stabbing scene, around 1,000 people gathered and engaged in significant disorder. Police officers were attacked, a police vehicle was set alight and the windows and front walls of the mosque were destroyed.

The following weekend a Liverpool city centre march billed as a peaceful demonstration to "save our kids" turned violent. More officers were attacked and families with young children were forced to flee as rioters broke through police lines. Later that same day, another crowd gathered on County Road in Walton and set fire to the Spellow library and community hub.

Rioting then broke out in towns and cities across the UK. Over 100 people have been arrested to date in relation to the disorder on Merseyside, while nearly 50 of them have been sentenced to a total of more than 100 years.

Liverpool's top judge, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC, said the riots were fuelled by false information about the alleged attacker's supposed ethnicity, nationality and religion. The judge said the riots were "used as a pretext for widespread violence, intimidation and damage".

The UK has extremely serious and stringent contempt of court laws that mean once a suspect has been charged and appeared in court, very little information can be published to not prejudice legal proceedings. However, as reported by the Times, Mr Hall said: "One of the problems and the consequences of the Southport attack was that there was an information gap, a vacuum, which was filled with false speculation.

"I personally think that more information could have been put out safely without compromising potential criminal proceedings." The stabbing has not been classed as a terror attack with the motive currently unknown.

Axel Rudakubana, now 18 and of Banks in Lancashire, was charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. When he appeared for mention at Liverpool Crown Court, the Recorder of Liverpool lifted an automatic anonymity which allowed media organisations to name him despite him still being a child.

Describing the allegations against the teenager as "shocking" and that they "could hardly be more serious", judge Menary said there was a "genuine and proper public interest in the identity of the defendant" and that allowing the press to name him would be "assisting to dispel misinformation that exists, especially online".