Woman who shared fake name of Southport attacker released without charge

A woman will face no further action after sharing a fake name of the alleged Southport attacker.

Bernadette Spofforth, 55, was arrested on August 8 after reposting the fake name, commenting that if it were true there would be ‘hell to pay’.

Axel Rudakubana has since been identified as the suspect charged with murdering  Alice Dasilva Aguiar, Bebe King, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, as well as the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults.

The judge in the case took the ‘exceptional case’ to lift automatic anonymity for the then-17-year-old, saying the inability for the media to name him had ‘the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum’.

Bernadette later deleted her tweet including an incorrect name for Rudakubana and apologised.

if(window.adverts) { adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_mobile_top"}) } if(window.adverts) { adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet"}) }

The fake name for the attacker, and the false claim that he is a Muslim refugee who had arrived by boat in the country in the past year, was spread online by a number of far-right commentators.

This appeared to stoke anti-immigration hostility, with unrest breaking out in locations across the country, despite the fact that the rumour was not true.

Almost 400 people have appeared in court, or are due to appear, following the widespread rioting and unrest in the wake of the Southport attack.

More Trending

Full list of Wetherspoons pubs closing by end of 2024 revealed

Travel chaos at major London station as flights delayed at Heathrow and Gatwick

British Airways flight declares emergency before returning to Heathrow

'Bag of vapes' explodes on EasyJet flight forcing evacuation

Read More Stories

Cheshire Police did not name Bernadette but confirmed that a 55-year-old woman from near Chester would face no further action.

A spokesman said: ‘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 August 8 following allegations in relation to a 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.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

if(window.adverts) { adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_mobile"}) }

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Sign Up for News UpdatesGet your need-to-know latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and moreSign up

Privacy Policy

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.