Millionaire mum arrested after posting conspiracy theory that sparked Southport riots faces no further action
A MILLIONAIRE mum accused of being the first person to spread a false claim about the Southport suspect will face no further action.
Bernadette Spofforth allegedly shared a post claiming an asylum seeker was behind the triple killing of three young girls.
The 55-year-old was also accused of posting an incorrect name for the suspect and claimed he arrived in Britain by boat last year.
The false information sparked riots across the country – with Spofforth later admitting the mistake had “destroyed” her.
She was arrested by Cheshire Police at her home and held for 36 hours before being bailed on August 10.
The force has today confirmed she is facing no further action “due to insufficient evidence”.
Millionaire fashion boss Spofforth released a statement revealing police told her about the development on September 5.
She said: “I’ve been unable to comment on this until now because, under the terms of my bail conditions, I faced being rearrested and locked up in a cell again if I used social media.”
The mum also told how she had shared a tweet, which she later deleted, and apologised as soon as she realised it was incorrect.
She added: “As has now been shown, the idea that one single tweet could be the catalyst for the riots which followed the atrocities in Southport is simply not true.
“Yet, despite repeatedly insisting I’d done nothing illegal, the police dragged me from my home and held me for 36 hours in a cell.
“What I’ve experienced over the past few weeks is nothing in comparison to the suffering of the tragic victims in Southport. And I’m not trying to compare the two.
“But I am just an ordinary person with ordinary opinions and I think it’s important that the public should know how ordinary people can be treated.
“The nightmare my family and I have lived through over the past month could happen to anyone. And in Britain in 2024 that’s unacceptable.”
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar were knifed to death at a Taylor Swift dance class on July 29.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, who lives in Banks, Lancashire, but is originally from Cardiff, has been charged over the attack.
Spofforth is understood to have written: “Ali Al-Shakati was the suspect, he was an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list.
“If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose.”
Mum-of-three Spofforth’s false claim spread rapidly on social media, where it was allegedly boosted by Russian trolls.
It was also shared by far-right agitators like Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate.
She later said she was “mortified” by the riots that erupted after the misinformation swelled online.
The mum also denied making it up and claimed she had received the details from “somebody in Southport”.
Spofforth added: “My post had nothing to do with the violence we’ve seen across the country. But I acknowledge that it may have been the source for the information used by a Russian news website.”
She also told The Times it was a “spur-of-the-moment ridiculous thing to do” that had “literally destroyed me”.
The millionaire continued: “It was just a mistake. I did a really stupid, stupid thing, I copied and pasted it from what I saw, and I added the line ‘if this is true’.”
Riots gripped the UK in a week of carnage as mosques were attacked, shops looted, cars fire-bombed and police injured by bricks.
Hundreds have appeared in court for their part in the violence – with a 12-year-old boy yesterday becoming the youngest rioter to be sentenced.
Cheshire Police told The Sun Online: “A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge.
“The 55-year-old woman from near Chester was arrested on Thursday 8 August following allegations in relation social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders.
“Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence.”