Update in Southport stabbing as police confirm one of the eight injured children is still in hospital a week on
ONE child remains in hospital a week on from the Southport attack, Merseyside Police have said.
All the other patients have now been discharged.
The update comes after it was disclosed two children injured in the horrific Southport knife attack had been discharged from hospital.
The youngsters, who were among five kids fighting for their lives after the mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, were being allowed to go home.
Eights others were previously in serious conditions including a yoga dance teacher Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes.
Hero Leanne “bent over two girls” and took knife blows to save them, her family revealed.
She was stabbed in the arms, neck and back as she used her body to shield young girls – and is now said to be “awake” and recovering”.
Her colleague Heidi Liddle escaped uninjured after bravely locking some of the children inside a toilet.
It comes after the teenager charged with the murder of three kids was named as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana after a judge lifted reporting restrictions.
Jonathan Hayes was stabbed in the leg as he bravely tried to fend off the attacker after running into the class when he heard screams.
Terrified witnesses described the rampage as a “horror film” as the teen allegedly stabbed children at random.
The attack has sparked widespread rioting across the country – despite the local community calling for calm.
A “standing army” of specialist police officers is being assembled to crack down on rioting, the Prime Minister said as he called for perpetrators to be named and shamed.
Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “ramp up criminal justice” after an emergency Cobra meeting was called in the wake of a sixth day of disorder which saw rioters storm hotels housing asylum seekers.
Police clashed with crowds one week on from the Southport stabbings as the escalating violence continued over the weekend across the country.
So far, there have been 378 arrests since the violence broke out last week, with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) warning the total was expected to rise each day.
Several suspects faced charges in court on Monday, as ministers and police chiefs descended on Westminster for the meeting setting out the response for the coming days in a bid to clamp down on further unrest.
Calls for the army to be brought in have so far been dismissed, with the Government insisting the police already have the resources needed to respond.
Setting out the action to be taken after the meeting, the Prime Minister said: “The first is we will have a standing army of specialist public duty officers so that we will have enough officers to deal with this where we need them.
“The second is we will ramp up criminal justice. There have already been hundreds of arrests, some have appeared in court this morning.
“I have asked for early consideration of the earliest naming and identification of those involved in the process who will feel the full force of the law.”
He issued a similar warning to anyone whipping up violence online as the Technology Secretary said social media companies providing “a platform for this hate” must go further in tackling it.
Downing Street also criticised X owner Elon Musk for claiming “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, with officials suggesting online misinformation fuelling disorder on Britain’s streets may be being amplified by foreign state actors.
It comes as Sir Keir addressed the nation on Sunday amid the biggest challenge to his premiership so far, telling perpetrators they would “regret” engaging in “far-right thuggery”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the courts are on “standby” to ensure “swift justice”.
Although several cases were already in motion, questions were being raised about how quickly this would happen in reality as it emerged some suspects will not face court for weeks.
Staffordshire Police said two people charged over disorder in Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday were not due in court for more than a fortnight and others accused of being involved in unrest in Bristol are not due to face court until September, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Elsewhere, defendants were being brought before magistrates in Belfast, Sheffield, Liverpool and South Tyneside in the latest wave of court appearances.
Judges condemned the “disgraceful” and “large-scale mob violence” while some courts heard how defendants took advantage of the disorder to commit crime.
A woman admitted pushing over a large bin towards police in Sunderland, after getting involved when the pub where she had been drinking closed, and a man said he stole vapes from a shop that had been damaged during the violent scenes in the town after “socialising with friends”.
A 30-year-old man accused of swinging a stick at a woman during disorder outside Sheffield City Hall sobbed in the dock as he denied the charges against him.
The unrest has prompted some MPs to demand Parliament is recalled so the problems can be debated in the Commons, as it was during the 2011 riots.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews called for a “national conversation” on promoting respect for the country and each other, as it condemned the “lawlessness and thuggery”.
Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel said she would not feel safe in some of the areas where violence unfolded and that the racism on display was no different from that of the 1970s and 1980s.
The Home Office has brought in urgent measures to make sure mosques were offered extra protection so any threats of more attacks on places of worship could be responded to quickly.
A mosque in Middlesbrough was the latest of several to be targeted.
