'Entirely appropriate' handling of Southport riots undermined by 'disgraceful' claims says new report

The police response to the riots that erupted across the country last summer was “entirely appropriate”, a new parliamentary report has found. However, an “information vacuum” allowed disinformation to flourish.

The Home Affairs Committee published a report on Monday (April 14) into the police response to the disorder that broke out after the murder of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.

It found there was no evidence of “two-tier policing” in officers’ handling of the levels of violence and criminality during the period, and branded the claims as “disgraceful”, adding the claims served only to undermine police officers.

The report identified 246 events which took place in the aftermath of the Southport tragedy - 88 of which were deemed “significant” and many resulting in disorder.

The first riot broke out in Southport on July 30, with more than twenty police officers injured as violent disorder erupted just hours after a vigil took place to honour the three children killed. Axel Rudakubana, who was seventeen when he carried out the attack, was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years earlier this year.

Prior to Rudakubana’s identity being revealed, false rumours circulated on social media that the attacker was an asylum seeker. Merseyside Police disclosed that he was born in Cardiff but were unable to reveal further information due to legal restrictions.

The disorder continued across the country, with major riots in the likes of Liverpool, Sunderland, Rotheram and Blackpool. Mosques, community centres and libraries were targeted and hotels housing asylum seekers were subject to attacks.

MPs said: “This was not protest. Those participating in disorder were not policed more strongly because of their supposed political views but because they were throwing missiles, assaulting police officers and committing arson.

“It was disgraceful to see the police officers who bore the brunt of this violence being undermined by baseless claims of ‘two-tier policing’.”

Committee chairwoman Dame Karen Bradley added: “Organised disorder is rightly met with a robust response; any implied equivalence with planned non-violent protests is simply wrong.”

By January 22 this year, 1,804 arrests had been made and there were 1,072 charges from the disorder, with the majority for serious public order offences, the report said.

It acknowledged that the disorder was the worst the country had seen since the 2011 riots and urged the Government to release funding to forces to cover costs from the disorder, which was estimated to total more than £28 million by the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

MPs also called for the Government to focus on a strategy for retaining police officers, alongside recruitment, after staff during the riots worked for long hours with many suffering injury and trauma.

Some 44,438 public order police officer shifts were worked to cover the national response to the disorder between August 1 and 18, while 302 officers were injured including up to 69 who were taken to hospital.

The report said: “Police forces did their best to ameliorate the impact on officers but it is clear that the disorder has had a detrimental effect at a time when many officers were already struggling with heavy workloads, fatigue and stress.”

MPs also noted that many police forces were “unprepared” for the levels of violence, leaving officers exposed to “significant risk”.

The report stated: “Given the background of recent disorder, we agree with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services that police forces should have better anticipated the risk of disorder in general. After disorder in Southport, police forces should not have taken it for granted that subsequent planned protests would remain peaceful.”

The report found there were gaps in intelligence linked to social media and the dark web. It also said that the criminal justice system has failed to keep pace with the social media age, with speculation and misinformation about the Southport attacker driving disorder.

Contempt of court rules led to restrictions on disclosure which the report said created an “information vacuum” that allowed disinformation to flourish.

It said: “Merseyside Police were put in a very difficult position given legal restrictions on communicating the identity of the Southport suspect and the need to withhold certain information in order to protect the trial.

“The inconsistent advice from the CPS over the publication of information about the suspect’s religion was particularly regrettable and hampered the police response. It cannot be determined whether the disorder could have been prevented had more information been published.

“However, the lack of information published in the wake of the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar created a vacuum where misinformation was able to grow, further undermining public confidence.”

MPs welcomed a review into the law by the Law Commission, which published a consultation paper last month to consider “whether there should be contempt of court liability for those who risk prejudicing a criminal trial by releasing information in the interests of public safety or national security”.

Responding to the report, Emily Spurrell, chairwoman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and PCC for Merseyside Police said the ensuring capability and improved information sharing at a national level “must be a priority for all involved in policing reform” after the findings over the nationally coordinated policing response.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is always important that we always learn lessons, and we are working closely with policing to improve national decision making, and to ensure that officers get the support they need to keep our streets safe.

“We also agree social media has put well-established principles around how we communicate after attacks like this under strain, and we must be able to tackle misinformation head on. That is why we have asked the Law Commission to carry out a review into the rules around Contempt of Court as soon as possible.”

Conservative shadow policing minister Matt Vickers said: “Serious questions remain about the Government’s lack of transparency.

“From day one, the Government has ducked accountability whilst ministers have hidden behind legal technicalities instead of levelling with the public. Confusion and silence allowed conspiracy to thrive, and trust in the authorities was shattered by a Government that refused to come clean.”