Tragedy eclipsed How the disorder unfolded

Riots spread across numerous cities and towns in England, and in Belfast in Northern Ireland, after the murder of three young girls in Southport in northwest England last Monday.

- Emine Sinmaz

Hundreds of people have been arrested since anti-immigrant and far-right unrest erupted in the worst outbreak of civil disorder in Britain for 13 years.

What sparked the violence?

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were killed in a multiple stabbing at a dance class in Southport on 29 July. Eight other children sustained knife wounds with five left in a critical condition. Two adults were also critically hurt.

Axel Rudakubana, 17, who was born in Cardiff and had been living in Banks, a Lancashire village near Southport, has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.

Before the suspect's identity was confirmed, false claims proliferated online that he was a Muslim asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat. In the wake of these messages, members of the far right - guided by social media - gathered in towns and cities across the country. Counter-protests also built up with clashes between opposing groups.