Why oh why can’t people just think and use some common sense before they act - 55yrs old as well
Woman first to ‘spread false rumours’ about Southport stabbing suspect speaks out
Bonnie Spofforth, from Cheshire, managing director of a clothing company, reportedly claimed that the suspect was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat, before it transpired that he was not.
A businesswoman accused of being the first person to spread false rumours about the Southport stabbing suspect has said she’s sorry.
Bonnie Spofforth allegedly falsely claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat, The Mirror reported. It soon after transpired the accused – Axel Rudakubana – was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.
The claims, spouted and shared widely online, helped ignite race-fuelled violence and unrest, with major rioting in Southport spreading to towns and cities across the country.
Now, Ms Spofforth says she’s “mortified” and “literally destroyed” over her words.
The 55-year-old appeared to claim the suspect was an asylum seeker called Ali Al-Shakati who was on an MI6 watch list. Her post is believed to have been the first to use this incorrect name, which was then widely shared by other accounts, the Mirror reported.
Her original message on X at 4.49pm on the same day of the attack read: “Ali Al-Shakati was the suspect, he was an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list. If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose.”
Ms Spofforth, from Cheshire, who is the managing director of a clothing company, continued: “My post had nothing to do with the violence we’ve seen across the country. But I acknowledge that it may have been the source for the information used by a Russian news website.”