Fact check: Police say suspect arrested over Southport attack was born in UK

Claims have circulated online that the person arrested on suspicion of killing three children in Southport was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat in 2023. Some claims include an alleged identity.

Evaluation

The police have said that a name shared on social media is “incorrect” and confirmed the person they arrested was born in the UK.

The facts

Several rumours spread online after the attack on children attending a holiday club.

Merseyside Police have confirmed that three children died in the knife attack in Southport on Monday July 29. Eight other children and two adults were injured.

The police said they had arrested a “17-year-old male from Banks in Lancashire , who was born in Cardiff”, on suspicion of murder and that a name being shared on social media was incorrect .

A website linked to the profile of one account which claimed police had confirmed the name and details of the youth arrested later published a statement apologising and saying “the information provided in that article was not accurate and did not meet our standards of reliability and integrity”.

Links

Post on X

Second post on X ( archived )

Merseyside Police – Statement from Chief Constable Serena Kennedy ( archived )

Merseyside Police – Update on major incident in Southport ( archived )

Channel 3 Now profile on X ( archived )

Channel 3 Now statement ( archived )