A 17-year-old appeared in court on Thursday charged with murdering three girls who were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside.
The teenager, from Banks in Lancashire, appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court where he was also charged with a further 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, were knifed to death on Monday when an attacker entered the dance class on Hart Street in the seaside town.
Eight other children suffered injuries, five of them critical, and two adults were also critically wounded.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with the attempted murder of the two adults, Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, as well as the attempted murder of the eight children who also cannot legally be identified.
He was remanded into youth detention accommodation and will appear at Liverpool Crown Court later on Thursday.
The accused arrived at the court at about 9 a.m. in a prison van with a large police escort.
He was brought into the youth court before District Judge James Hatton at 10:21 a.m., wearing a baggy grey tracksuit and black slippers.
The boy glanced at the row of around 20 reporters sat behind the glass dock and smiled before he was asked to sit down.
He pulled his sweatshirt over his face above his nose, kept his head low, and did not speak during the five-minute hearing.
None of the families of the victims nor any of the defendant’s relatives were in court for the hearing.
Merseyside Police announced they were charging him at a midnight press conference on Thursday.
Chief Constable of Merseyside Police Serena Kennedy said, “Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and counter-terrorism police in the north west.”
Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport on Tuesday evening, however violence later erupted in the town which injured 53 police officers and three police dogs.
Southport appeared to remain quiet on Wednesday evening, but the stabbings have sparked unrest in other areas of the country.
Protesters chanting “you’re not English any more” and throwing bottles and cans at police in riot gear, were detained on Whitehall in London, while in Hartlepool, County Durham, a police car was set ablaze and bottles and eggs were hurled at officers.
PA Media contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times