MPs issue bombshell warning over Southport probe as key law changes urged

Inconsistent advice from prosecutors "hampered" the police response to the Southport atrocity and Summer riots, a bombshell report has revealed. The Crown Prosecution Service and Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Serena Kennedy, had a 90-minute discussion about whether to reveal monster Axel Rudakubana's religion as false rumours spread online.

Prosecutors in London were largely in favour of revealing more detail about Rudakubana being a Christian, but local representatives objected and the details were withheld. And the "lack of information" about the killer "created a vacuum where misinformation was able to grow", the Home Affairs Select Committee said.

The influential group of MPs said contempt of court laws and CPS media guidance are not "fit for the social media age".

The Home Affairs Select Committee concluded: "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.

"We respect the CPS's commitment to minimising risks to successful prosecutions, but it is clear that neither the law on contempt nor existing CPS guidance for the media and police are fit for the social media age."

Monster Rudakubana, 18, stabbed three schoolgirls to death and attempted to kill eight more at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

Riots broke out in Merseyside and across the country after false reports on social media the attacker was an asylum seeker who had arrived on a small boat.

Russian 'bots' also helped to amplify the fake news.

Dame Karen Bradley said: "It is a grim reality that bad actors sought to exploit the unspeakable tragedy that unfolded in Southport.

"By failing to disclose information to the public, false claims filled the gap and flourished online, further undermining confidence in the police and public authorities.

"The criminal justice system will need to ensure its approach to communication is fit for the social media age.

"There is a difference in how police must deal with violence and how they deal with peaceful protests.

"This needs to recognised by commentators who all too readily spread claims of "two tier policing".

"Organised disorder is rightly met with a robust response; any implied equivalence with planned non-violent protests is simply wrong."

The group of MPs 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".

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'."

During the riots, mosques, community centres and libraries were attacked and hotels housing asylum seekers were also targeted.

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.

In total, 246 events of protests, counter-protests and incidents of disorder took place, including 88 seen as "significant" with many resulting in disorder, it added.

In the worst violence seen since the 2011 riots, MPs 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.

They 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.

MPs also found shortfalls in national policing structures that hindered the response to the disorder, and meant forces were not always able to access support they needed.

The parliamentary committee agreed with findings from a watchdog that police forces should have better anticipated the risk of disorder in general, and that it should not have been taken for granted that planned protests following the Southport disorder would remain peaceful.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) had said that a number of events in 2023 and 2024 were indicators of potential future disorder, but this had not been reflected in police intelligence assessments.

It also found there were gaps in intelligence linked to social media and the dark web.
MPs also recommended a boosted ability for police to monitor and respond to social media at a national level.

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."

A CPS spokesperson said: "We supported the committee to scrutinise the process by which information was shared with the public following the appalling attack in Southport last year which led to the summer disorder.

"While it is clear that during simultaneous, fast-moving discussions between Merseyside Police and CPS colleagues at local and national levels on July 31st, different views were expressed on the release of information about the suspect's religion, there was no suggestion from CPS that this information risked prejudice to the trial.

"Merseyside Police decided not to issue this information, and the matter was never revisited by them with the CPS.

"The Media Protocol, which provides guidance for how prosecution material in criminal trial proceedings is shared with the media, played no part in this decision making and we are writing to the Committee to clarify this point.

"Work to update this Protocol began before the disorder and we are working to publish an updated version later this year."