Two children injured in Southport stabbings discharged from hospital

Two of the children who were injured in the knife attack at a dance class in Southport have been discharged from hospital, and five others are now in a stable condition.

In an update published on Thursday morning, Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool said: “We are delighted that two of the children involved in Monday’s awful incident have now been discharged.

“We continue to treat five children involved in the devastating incident in Southport on Monday, including one recently transferred to us from Aintree University hospital. All the children in our care are currently in a stable condition.”

Three children were killed in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class at the Hart Space, a studio venue in the Merseyside town.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were fatally injured when a male entered the class 10 minutes before it was due to end on Monday morning and attacked the children with a kitchen knife.

Two adults were also injured in the attack and were reported to be in a critical condition earlier this week.

They are the yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, who was running the event, and John Hayes, 63, a businessman working in an office building next door who tried to disarm the attacker.

Alder Hey hospital declared a critical incident in the immediate aftermath of the attack due to the number of casualties staff were dealing with.

Axel Rudakubana, 17, appeared in court on Thursday charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie and Alice, and with 10 counts of attempted murder. He used his jumper to cover his face and did not speak. He was remanded in youth detention to appear at Liverpool crown court on 25 October.

The attack prompted widespread grief and horror across the country, with hundreds attending a vigil in the town. Taylor Swift was among those to offer her condolences, saying the attack had left her “completely in shock”.

It has also led to two nights of violent unrest after far-right demonstrations were organised on the back of false claims on social media that the attack was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.

The prime minister was due to host senior police leaders in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon. Keir Starmer was expected to stress that those who perpetrated violence and “sow hatred” should face “the full force of the law”.

More than 50 police officers were injured and five men were arrested after far-right riots in Southport on Tuesday night, where an estimated 200-300 people threw bricks, stones and bottles and set cars alight, near a mosque close to where the attack took place.

On Wednesday night violent unrest broke out in London, Hartlepool and Manchester. More than 100 people were arrested in the capital after protesters in Whitehall hurled beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.

In Manchester, about 40 people gathered outside a Holiday Inn hotel in what appeared to be a protest against asylum seekers being housed there.