Conspiracy theories about the Southport attack are spreading because of a crisis with “trust in institutions” in Britain, the local area’s police commissioner has warned.
Emily Spurrell, who was made chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) in September, said the furore around the announcement of new charges against Axel Rudakubana last week was a symptom of wider issues.
“We are seeing this real crisis with trust in institutions as a whole – policing, healthcare, parliament, the government,” Spurrell told the Observer.
“When you see people peddling conspiracy theories, they hit close enough to home that then people start to buy into it who are genuinely just vulnerable or concerned about what’s going on. Although the immediacy [of the Southport attack] is gone, we know there will be these touchpoints as the trial gets closer.”
Merseyside police announced last week that 18-year-old Rudakubana, who is accused of murdering three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in July, had been charged with two further offences – producing the toxin ricin and possessing an “al-Qaeda training manual”.
The force said the new charges had not changed counter-terrorism policing’s decision not to declare the Southport attack terrorism, and urged people not to jeopardise Rudakubana’s forthcoming trial with speculation.
Spurrell, who has been the Labour police and crime commissioner for Merseyside since 2021, said that while police and prosecutors have been trying to dispel disinformation by explaining how criminal justice processes apply to the case, “my fear is there are people who are just so far past the point of trusting us that they won’t believe what we’re telling them”.
Unsuccessful Conservative party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick suggested after the new charges were announced last week that authorities had “concealed” information, while the party’s new leader Kemi Badenoch claimed there were “serious questions to be asked” of police, prosecutors and prime minister Keir Starmer. A frenzy of online commentary followed.
Downing Street denied withholding facts from the public, while Merseyside police said officers had been assessing new evidence as it arose and following guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Spurrell said: “I understand people are angry. They feel like things have been done withholding information, but that’s absolutely not the case.
“These investigations take time – they are dealing with some sensitive materials. They had to bring the right experts in to manage that, and they have to make sure that they are not jeopardising the trial process.
“Because ultimately, what we don’t want is somebody to turn around and say the trial can’t go ahead because it’s been jeopardised. That would be the worst thing for those poor families [of the Southport victims].”
The CPS issued a warning against “reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice” legal proceedings over the attack, while Merseyside police chief constable Serena Kennedy urged people not to “lose sight of the families” of the children killed.
Rudakubana had already been charged with the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, as well as the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults, and possession of a knife. A provisional trial date has been set for January next year.
Police across the country have continued efforts to identify people involved in riots that swept multiple towns and cities after the attack.
Almost 1,600 arrests have so far been made, with 1,015 charges brought. Spurrell said dedicated teams are still combing through footage of disorder for suspects. “Although it was three months ago, that doesn’t mean people can get away with what they did,” she added.
In Merseyside, in an attempt to tackle some of the underlying issues behind the riots, money seized from criminals will be invested into projects focusing on community cohesion, inclusion and tackling hate crime, Spurrell said.
She also hopes to use her two-year term at the APCC, which represents elected police and crime commissioners across England and Wales and is Labour-dominated for the first time, to help improve public trust in policing.
While the most recent official statistics show most types of recorded crime falling and prosecution rates increasing, Spurrell said the statistics do not matter if public perception does not improve. “As it currently stands, I think policing and criminal justice isn’t working,” she said. “You can tell people [the statistics] all the time but if they don’t feel safe, that’s what we’ve got to tackle. They just want to know that when they need the police, they will be there for them.”
