the most devastating incident that I
think Muryside Police has ever dealt
with. As a mom, as a nana can't begin to
imagine what they went through.
We'd started to see disorder break out
across the country. There was no
protest. It was absolute criminality.
That social media misinformation,
disinformation was a massive, massive
issue.
>> Last year we saw the horrific attack in
Southports.
That must have been incredibly harrowing
for you when you first heard that news.
>> Again, utterly uh devastating and
emotional um that an incident like that
had happened here on Muryside. Thank
goodness it is, you know, a very rare
occurrence. But the most devastating
incident that I think Muryside police
has ever dealt with. But my thoughts
always go, you know, to the families of
the three little girls, Alice, BB, and
Elsie. the 10 other people that were
injured and those little girls that
witnessed scenes that they should never
seen. But yeah, an incredibly uh
difficult time, but the response from
across the emergency services was
outstanding in terms of the support on
the day and that continued support by
colleagues from across the partnership
supporting those families and those
communities that are and still are
affected by what happened. On a personal
level, Chief Conible, can you tell me
about the emotional impact that the
Southport attacks had on you?
>> I It's I'm a mom. I'm a nana. Um who who
wouldn't be affected by what happened
when three little girls have lost their
lives and the injuries caused to the
other people. It was an event where
little girls should have been enjoying
what was a summer holiday treat. um you
know as a mom, as a nana really relating
um to um that need to find fun
activities for children to do in the
school holidays and as a parent getting
that phone call to say what had
happened. you know, I can't begin to
imagine uh what they went through. But
then needing to be, you know, my
responsibility as the chief council of
Muryside, making sure that we get the
response right, making sure that I can
meet my commitment, which is to make
sure that we get justice for those three
little girls and that was my overriding
thought throughout that period.
>> You wanted to release Axel Rabbana's
religion, but were told not to by the
Crown Prosecution Service. How
frustrating was that? You know, I think
it's been well documented that we had um
you know, a three-hour meeting around
simply um that point uh around
recognizing the what was going on. We'd
had the disorder on the Tuesday evening.
It was now Wednesday and we'd started to
see disorder break out across the
country. Um, I wanted to give as much
information as I could to help my help
the communities uh have trust and
confidence in policing that we were
being open and transparent, but also in
the forefront of my mind was getting
justice for the families of those three
little girls. And that was, you know,
why we had such a long um uh meeting
around that single point. um and if I
was not willing to do anything that
would impact on um the right to a fair
trial. Um so it was frustrating but I
understood the reason why
>> there was an information vacuum that was
created um because more information
wasn't released about Axel Rick
Gabartner. Do you think that fueled the
protest that we saw in Murzy side and
elsewhere around the country? Well, I I
don't think there was an information
vacuum. As soon as we got the
information that we were able to
release, let let's not forget that Rudy
Cabana was a 17year-old child at the
time. So, as soon as we gave as much
information as we could and that we were
permitted to do so. So, as soon as and
we also corrected the misinformation. So
the misinformation started by the fact
that the an asylum seeker was
responsible for this attack which was
completely incorrect and we corrected
that straight away and as soon as we got
information around where Rudy Kabana had
been had been born or was from we gave
that information once we knew he'd
actually been born in Cardiff we gave
that information so we were giving out
as much information as quickly as we
could to help uh the communities. The
other thing I would also say is what we
saw on the uh on the uh Tuesday evening
on the 30th of July was not protest. The
first brick was thrown at the mosque 20
minutes after the vigil had ended. There
was no protest. People made their way
from that vigil intent on committing
acts of criminality. They didn't stand
still protesting. They arrived at the
mosque and immediately wanted to get
into that mosque and cause damage and
cause injury to people. So there was no
element of protest. It was absolute
criminality.
>> Do you support the new latest police
guidance on information that can be
released um on a on a suspect? Is there
a concern, a danger that you may be
prejudicing a trial if that if that is
the case? So the National Police Chiefs
Council and the College of Policing have
worked with the Crown Prosecution
Service and and Criminal Justice
colleagues uh to make sure that the way
in which we're approaching media
releases now will not prejudice the
trial, which is why I think it's been
important to take our time to make sure
that we don't do anything to make sure
that the the fairness of a trial is
infected affected. So I do I do support
the information uh and the guidance
that's come out. Um, you know, I
recognize the impact that, um, incidents
like this have on trust and confidence,
and I do think we need to be as open and
honest and transparent as possible. Um,
but even when we're releasing as much
information as we are able, that is not
stopping some of the misinformation
that's appearing on social media. And I
have to say, I don't really know what
the answer is is to that. I think we
need to we can only give so much
information but once we see that
misinformation on social media getting
reshared all we can do is ask the
community to always refer back to
legitimate trusted sources i.e the
police social media accounts.
>> Guess it's indicative about how your
profession has changed given that you
have to factor in social media when you
are carrying out investigations.
You know, that has definitely been a
change during my time as a as a police
officer, but certainly a chief
constable. You know, if I can compare
and contrast the summer of 22 to the
summer of 24, that social media
misinformation, disinformation just
wasn't an issue for us in 22, fast
forward from 24, and it was a massive,
massive issue uh and devastating uh
consequences for communities in
Southport, Liverpool, and indeed across
the country.