Southport: Police given more time to question knife attack suspect

Merseyside Police have been granted more time to question a 17-year-old suspect, who was arrested following a knife attack in Southport which left three children dead.

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were all fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on Monday.

The Merseyside force had confirmed that officers had asked magistrates for more time to question the teenager, who has not been named because of his age and remains in custody.

The law allows officers up to 96 hours, or four days, to hold a suspect in custody for serious crimes.

The 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Eight other children suffered knife wounds in Monday's attack - five of whom are in a critical condition.

Two adults were also critically hurt.

Merseyside Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, has visited the scene today following a disturbance during a protest last night and said: "I just think that's deplorable. Anybody who believes that what they were doing is in defence of those three young children, those kids, those little girls that died, need to go and examine themselves."

Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Serena Kennedy, said last night’s violence should not take away from the trauma of Monday’s attack: "They were there purely for hooliganism and thuggery, in terms of bringing that level of violence and that behaviour onto the streets of Southport."

Hear the latest news on Clyde 1 on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.