Teen suspect charged in U.K. stabbing attack that left 3 children dead in seaside town

British police said Thursday they have charged a 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that left three little girls dead and several more in critical condition.

The charges came as the traumatized town of Southport cleaned up after a bout of far-right violence, and agitators fired up by anger and misinformation clashed with police near the prime minister's residence in London.

The Merseyside Police force said the teenager, who has not been named because of his age, faces three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder over people injured in the attack during a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance and yoga class.

He is due to appear in court in Liverpool later Thursday.

5 girls, 2 adults still critical

About two dozen children were attending the summer vacation workshop on Monday when an attacker with a knife burst in. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, died from their injuries. Ten other people were injured, among whom five girls and two adults are in critical condition.

Far-right demonstrators have launched several violent protests, ostensibly in response to the attack, clashing with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday.

A few hundred protesters hurled beer cans and flares near British Prime Minister Keir Starmer'sDowning Street residence incentral London on Wednesday evening. More than 100 people were arrested for offences, including violent disorder and assault on an emergency worker, London's Metropolitan Police force said.

Police also faced violent demonstrators in the town of Hartlepool in northeast England, as far-right groups seek to stir anger over an attack they have sought to link without evidence to immigrants.

Hours earlier, residents of Southport swept broken bricks andshattered glass from streetsafter far-right protesters clashed with police outside a mosque.

On Tuesday night, a crowd of several hundred peoplehurled bricks and bottles at riot police and set garbage bins and vehicles on fire in the seaside town, hours after a peaceful vigil for the girlswho were killed.More than 50 officers were injured, including more than two dozen who were taken to hospitals, officials said.

"I am absolutely appalled and disgusted at the level of violence that was shown towards my officers," Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said.

"Some of the first responders who attended that awful scene on Monday then were faced with that level of violence."

WATCH |U.K. police face violent crowd in Southport:

U.K. police face violent crowd in Southport

2 months ago

Duration 0:42

Warning: This video, which shows violent clashes Tuesday in the English seaside town of Southport, includes explicit language. Police say the violence is believed to be linked to supporters of the English Defence League, which espouses far-right, Islamophobic views.

Five men have been arrested in connection with the riots in Southport, mainly for violent disorder; one was arrested for possessing a knife and fighting. Kennedy said more arrests were expected.

Starmer condemned the "thuggery" and said the protesters "hijacked" the community's grief.

Norman Wallis, chief executive of the Southport Pleasureland amusement park, was one of dozens of people who turned up with brushes and shovels to clear the debris.

"It's horrendous what those hooligans have done last night," he said. "But none of those people were the people of Southport," he added. "The people of Southport are the ones here today cleaning the mess up."

The protesters, who police said were supporters of the far-right English Defence League, were apparently fuelled by false online rumours about the suspect.

Police said a name of the suspect circulating on social media spread by far-right activists and accounts of murky origin purporting to be news organizations was incorrect and that he was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum-seeker. The names of suspects under the age of 18 are usually not made public in Britain.

Misinformation 'has real-world impact'

Patrick Hurley, the local lawmaker, said the violence by "beered-up thugs" was the result of "propaganda and lies" spread on social media.

"This misinformation doesn't just exist on people's internet browsers and on people's phones. It has real-world impact," he said.

Chanaka Balasuryla, whose corner store was looted for booze and cigarettes, said he watched from home on a surveillance camera as a gang broke in. He was terrified because a woman and her daughter lived upstairs and he feared the looters would set the shop on fire.

He learned later that the woman had confronted the mob and told them the Windsor Mini Mart was her shop and asked them to stop. The next morning he went get down to his shop were people waiting to help him clean up.

"I feel safe again because people are here to protect us," he said.

The rampage in Southport, near Liverpool, is the latest shocking attack in a country where a recent rise in knife crime has stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons, which are a commonly usedinstrumentin U.K. homicides.