'You can't help but cry': hundreds pay tribute to stabbing victims

Vigil held in Southport as police name three girls killed in attack

- Jessica Murray Josh Halliday Hannah Al-Othman

Hundreds of people gathered at a vigil in Southport yesterday to pay tribute to the victims of a dance class knife attack as three children who died, and a yoga teacher who was injured trying to save them, were named.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were killed in what police called a "ferocious attack" during a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop on Monday.

Leanne Lucas, a yoga teacher who organised the event and helped lead the class, is believed to have been injured while trying to usher the children to safety. She was called a hero whose "bravery has touched the hearts of the nation" in a flood of tributes on social media.

Police said five children and two adults remained in a critical condition in hospital.

A 17-year-old boy, from the village of Banks in Lancashire but born in Cardiff, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Police said that the motive for the stabbings remained unclear as they continued to question the suspect.

Tears, shock and dismay as hundreds pay tribute to stab attack victims

Last night saw chaotic and violent scenes as protesters chanting far-right slogans clashed with police outside a mosque in St Luke's Road.

Officers had bricks and glass bottles thrown at them and a police van was set on fire.

Merseyside Police said an officer suffered a suspected broken nose and police vehicles had been damaged and set alight in the disturbances.