Southport cover-up claims mount as former attorney general says ‘I don’t buy it’ after Starmer denial

The criticism comes after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a public inquiry into the case, where Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had earlier stated there were "grave questions" to answer about how the state failed the victims.

In the Commons, Cooper blamed social media for spreading "misinformation" around the triple murder of July 2024.

She added: "The issue of contempt of court, because the British way of justice means information is presented to the court by police and CPS with restrictions on what can be said beforehand so the jury does not get partial or prejudicial information in advance to make sure that the trial is fair and justice is done.

"Social media puts those long established rules under strain, especially where partial and inaccurate information appears online."

Ellis expressed particular concern that the information vacuum "actually amounted to disinformation" which he described as "very damaging to the interest of justice".

Ellis specifically challenged the government's interpretation of the Contempt of Court Act 1981. The former Attorney General questioned whether the threshold for withholding information had been met under the Act.

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"There has to be substantial risk that the course of justice will be seriously impeded or prejudiced," Ellis told GB News.

He questioned what had occurred to "come close to justifying that terminology".

The Conservative MP highlighted his own experience with media guidance, noting: "On more than one occasion, I actually issued warnings to the press about the contempt of Court Act in advance to sort of say, be careful what you report in these cases."

Ellis raised questions about authorities' knowledge of an al Qaeda document, described as an academic study of the group's tactics.

"What we've heard about ricin. Did the authorities know more? And could they have said more without creating a substantial risk of serious prejudice?" he asked.

The former Attorney General emphasised the need for a careful balance in information disclosure.

He acknowledged that protecting trial integrity remains paramount, noting certain details like previous convictions must be withheld to prevent jury prejudice.

"You don't want the public to know if a person has previous convictions, that's clearly prejudicial," Ellis explained.

However, he stressed that "there's a balance to be drawn" between withholding and sharing information with the public. Ellis called for the upcoming inquiry to examine how information was handled after the arrest.

"I think it would be helpful if this inquiry actually starts to look into as well, what actually was said afterwards, that's going to be key," he told GB News.