A senior judge has slammed the “twisted ideology” behind racist mobs of rioters who were egged on by “complete nonsense” being spread online about the murders of three young girls at a dance class in Southport. Judge Andrew Menary KC, the Recorder of Liverpool, has now jailed five men who joined “baying mobs” in Southport and Liverpool during widespread disorder over the last week. Violence first broke out in the wake of a stabbing spree at a Stockport dance class which left three young girls dead, as misinformation spread online that the suspected attacker was an illegal immigrant and asylum seeker. Judge Menary said legitimate vigils and the local community’s grief had been “hijacked” by racists intent on violence, while police officers who joined a vigil to mourn the dead girls found themselves within hours under attack from so-called protesters. And in a damning assessment of those behind the violence, Judge Menary said: “Quite what they were protesting about remains a mystery to many.”On Wednesday, the judge sentenced Derek Drummond, 58, to three years in prison for punching a police officer in the face and throwing a brick at officers. On Thursday, Judge Menary sentenced William Nelson Morgan, 69, to two years and eight months after he armed himself with a cosh during the violence, while John O’Malley, 43, received the same sentence for being part of a mob pelting police with missiles.
