UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer credited “swift justice,” including sentencing, with quelling the unrest that has plagued the UK for the past 10 days, on Friday.
At least a dozen people were jailed on Thursday for their roles in the rioting, with more expected to be sent to prison on Friday, including some sentences being handed down live on television—a very unusual move in Britain where camera’s are normally banned from courtrooms.
The unrest was sparked by a mass stabbing at a children’s Taylor Swift themed dance class in the Merseyside town of Southport in which three young girls were killed on July 30.
In the aftermath of the attack, inaccurate information circulated about the identity and religion of the perpetrator, resulting in a mosque in the town being targeted by protesters. More unrest, along with various anti-immigration protests, followed in many cities around the country—including setting fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers—inflaming tensions and prompting some groups and Muslim communities to respond with counter-protests.
Axel Rudakubana, identified as the 18-year-old son of Rwandan immigrants to Britain after the unrest began, has been charged with the murder of the three girls and the attempted murder of 10 others, both adults and children.
Starmer addressed his third emergency Cobra meeting since rioting broke out Thursday after many protests which were allegedly planned for Wednesday night failed to materialise.
The prime minister told the meeting police need to remain on “high alert.”
Cobra meetings are convened in the UK at a time of crisis and take their name from the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms in Whitehall where they are held.
He told reporters that Wednesday’s events turned out “much better than was expected” adding that “anybody involving themselves in disorder, whatever they claim as their motive, will feel the full force of the law.”
“It’s important I repeat that because we need to make sure that in the coming days we can give the necessary reassurance to our communities, many of whom—I’ve been talking to some this morning—are very anxious about the situation.”
Police had warned that up to 100 far-right protests had been planned across the country on Wednesday, but virtually all of them failed to materialise. However, left-wing and pro-immigration counter-protests still went ahead in London and Brighton.
Starmer’s comments came as the final child injured in the Southport stabbings which sparked the riots was discharged from hospital on Thursday and will continue her recovery at home, Merseyside Police said.
More of those arrested in the violent disorder of the past week will appear in court on Friday and about 150 charges have been brought over the unrest.
Defendants will be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court for racially aggravated harassment and publishing written material intended to stir up religious hatred.
Cases will also be heard in Newcastle, Teesside, Liverpool, Sheffield, and inner London.
The arrest figure is expected to “continue to rise significantly,” the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said.
By Thursday afternoon the total number of arrests stood at 483, it added.
Many planned events failed to materialise on Wednesday but Gavin Stephens, chairman of the NPCC, warned those “intent on violence and destruction have not gone away.”
Social Media Arrests
Meanwhile, Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson took aim at social media companies, saying they have an “obligation” to deal with criminal offences being committed on their platforms.She said, “If there are criminal offences being committed on social media platforms now, then these social media companies have an obligation now to deal with that.”
Sentencing has already begun for people making “illegal” posts on social media, with Cumbria Police saying a man was jailed within 24 hours of posting racially aggravated, offensive online content.
Billy Thompson, 31, admitted posting a “racially aggravated and threatening comment” on Facebook.
He was arrested on Wednesday, and then charged, tried, and jailed by Thursday evening. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison.
A 55-year-old woman from Chester was arrested and is being held in custody in relation to a social media post which contained inaccurate information about the identity of the suspect in the Southport murders.
A Labour Party spokesperson confirmed that Ricky Jones, a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, has been suspended by the party in relation to the video.
