Pakistani web developer charged over fake details spread about Southport accused

A Pakistani web developer is facing a criminal charge over claims he helped spread misinformation about the accused Southport attacker.

Farhan Asif, 32, has been charged with cyber terrorism after false claims quickly spread online that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant to the UK, when in fact he was born in Wales and comes from a Christian family.

Pakistani police announced the charge on Wednesday, and said that Asif claimed he was not the original source of the false information, but reposted it from social media.

After three little girls were murdered at a holiday club in Southport on July 29, false rumours including a fake name for the suspect spread on X, formerly Twitter, appearing to originate from an apparent news website called Channel3 Now.

The site’s editor-in-chief posted an apology July 31 for “the misleading information published in a recent article on our website, Channel3 Now. We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.”

The false details spread quickly online in the UK, with riots breaking out in various locations.

There were also anti-racist counter-demonstrations attended by thousands of people.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, which deals with cyber-terrorism, has taken over the investigation.

In Pakistan police charge suspects with offences, and they are indicted later.

Federal investigators were given a day to question Asif by a court on Wednesday, and he is due to appear in court on Thursday when investigators are expected to seek more time to quiz him.

Hundreds of people have so far been charged in the UK following the widespread disorder.

On Wednesday, the latest batch of defendants to appear in court included men accused or convicted of unrest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham .

The unrest outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, on August 4 left 58 police officers, three police horses and a police dog injured, and saw attempts to storm the building and set it on fire.

Railway engineer Morgan Hardy, 29, of Melton High Street, Rotherham, is accused of throwing chairs, fencing and a fire extinguisher at police guarding the hotel, and denies violent disorder.

Former soldier Peter Beard, 43, of Becknoll Road, Brampton Bierlow, Rotherham, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting pushing aggressively at the line of officers.

The father-of-three, who undertook tours of duty in Kosovo, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, was told by Judge Jeremy Richardson KC: “Your conduct was shameful, it was disgraceful and, in many respects, astonishing.”

Passing sentence at Sheffield Crown Court, the judge heard how Beard served in the Royal Green Jackets between 1998 and 2003, and said he was “astonished” that the defendant had become involved as he had been “on the receiving end” of public order incidents as a peacekeeper.

A 27-year-old man who threw a wood panel onto a fire outside the hotel admitted a charge of arson with intent to endanger life.

Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Thomas Birley his offending is “unquestionably” the most serious of all those he has dealt with in the last fortnight in relation to the rioting outside the Holiday Inn Express, at Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4.

Birley, of Rowms Lane, Swinton, Rotherham, who also admitted violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon, will be sentenced on September 6.

Elsewhere Jake Lowther, 20, of Abrams Fold, Banks was sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders’ institute for throwing stones at police in Southport.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that he picked up two pieces of brick or stone from a broken wall and threw them towards police, with one hitting a riot shield.

A number of people involved in the Southport disorder were jailed on Wednesday, including father-of-three Luke Moran, 38, who was sentenced to three years after trying to smash a police van window.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that the officer inside, Pc James Hayes, feared for his life as Moran used a large piece of concrete to hit the carrier three times.

Cocaine addict Daniel Carrigan, 41, of Preston Grove, Liverpool, was jailed for  two years and eight months after admitting violent disorder and criminal damage, for throwing items at a police van and kicking the vehicle.

The court heard he had been convicted of a racially aggravated common assault in 2016 after telling a traffic warden he should “return back to his own country”.

Thomas Whitehead, 53, was arrested on a plane at Manchester Airport after his picture was circulated by police as part of the mob that had gathered outside the town’s mosque.

The father-of-three was sentenced to one year and eight months for violent disorder for throwing “items” at police.

Manager for a scaffolding firm Nicholas Sinclair, 38, of Bury Road, Birkdale, was seen in footage throwing bricks at the officers, and was jailed for two years and four months for the same offence.

In a separate case, a man who  live-streamed disorder outside an asylum hotel was warned to get a lawyer and that he is in a “serious position” by Judge Maurice Greene at Manchester Crown Court.

Aaron Johnson 32, of Criterion Street, Stockport, admitted inciting racial hatred by using racist language in a live stream broadcast to “millions of people” from outside an asylum hotel in Stockport on August 5.

He will be sentenced on September 19.

Declan Dixon, 22, of Salisbury Avenue, Hindley, Wigan, was jailed for 18 months at Teesside Crown Court for throwing a missile towards police on July 31 in Hartlepool.

The electrician, who told police he had been present “out of curiosity”, had admitted violent disorder and possessing cocaine.

Michael Stevenson, 34, of Newport Road, Middlesbrough, who tried to set fire to a wheelie bin which was pushed towards riot police during disorder in the town, was jailed for 26 months.

Scaffolder Perrie Fisher, 29, who rode a children’s scooter before throwing it at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Aldershot and telling a police officer to f*** off, was sentenced to 29 months.