Mum of Southport stabbing victim issues impassioned plea after devastating riots: 'We don't need this'

It comes after nearly 40 police officers sustained injuries at the scene of violent disorder in Merseyside.

Detectives said those involved in the unrest, who they believe included supporters of the English Defence League, set alight cars belonging to members of the public and threw bricks at the local mosque.

In a post on social media, Jenni Stancombe said: "This is the only thing that I will write, but please stop the violence in Southport tonight."

She added: "The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this."

The violent protests followed hundreds of people taking part in a peaceful vigil for the stabbing victims outside Southport’s Atkinson arts venue, with many in tears as they laid flowers and cards of remembrance. As well as the three children who died, eight other youngsters suffered stab wounds and five are in a critical condition, alongside two adults who were also critically injured, police said.

The vigil was followed by the protest outside the mosque as demonstrators chanted far-right slogans and clashed with police in St Luke’s Road. Southport MP Patrick Hurley said on Wednesday that rioters must face the "full force of the law", saying they were "utterly disrespecting the families of the dead and injured children".

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A huge clean-up operation is underway this morning after violent rioters began to throw items such as bricks towards the mosque in the seaside town at around 7.45pm.

Chief executive of Southport Pleasureland Norman Wallis who was helping at the junction of Sussex Road and St Luke’s Road said it was partly in response to a social media plea he put out after witnessing the violence on Tuesday evening.

He said: "There are hundreds of people who have responded, and we’ve ended up with lots of people down here today, all from the local community and helping with the fantastic clean-up."

He added: "It’s horrendous what those hooligans have done last night. It was like a war scene. People from out of town just causing absolute mayhem. People in hoods climbing up lampposts, throwing bricks, they set a police car on fire.

"But none of those people were the people of Southport. The people of Southport are the ones here today cleaning the mess up. Those people from out of town – they came in in buses and cars and had a change of clothes. They just started to riot and do this."

False claims had spread online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat. Southport MP Patrick Hurley told Times Radio: "Because of the propaganda and the lies that were being spread around on social media from within minutes of the news breaking on Monday afternoon about the tragic incident.

"We’d had all sorts of lies being spread and misinformation being spread about the alleged perpetrator and some people with the best of intentions then they tried to rebut this, they tried to argue back, but all that happens is you’re just amplifying people’s false messaging."

He added: "This misinformation doesn’t just exist on people’s internet browsers and on people’s phones. It has real-world impact.

"And what happened is that the real world impact of that was that we then had hundreds of people descending on the town, descending on Southport from outside of the area, intent on causing trouble, either because they believe what they’ve written, or because they are bad faith actors who wrote it in the first place, in the hope of causing community division."

In a statement on social media, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Brave police, firefighters & paramedics saved lives in the horrific Southport attack.

"Total disgrace those same emergency services were attacked & officers injured by violent thugs from out of town. Grieving community & emergency services deserve all our support & respect."