Pakistani web developer accused of spreading lies about the Southport knifeman that sparked riots on Britain's streets is charged with cyber terrorism By Emily Jane Davies and Miriam Kuepper Published: 06:51 EDT, 21 August 2024 | Updated: 06:53 EDT, 21 August 2024 e-mail A Pakistani web developer accused of spreading disinformation about the Southport knifeman which triggered the UK riots has been charged with cyber terrorism. Farhan Asif reportedly worked for news aggregation website Channel3Now, which published false articles about the identity of the Southport stabber. He falsely claimed that the knifeman - whose identity could not be published at the time due to his age - was a migrant who arrived in the UK via boat and was on an MI6 watchlist.
Police in Pakistan have charged Asif with cyber terrorism, in relation to the disinformation thought to have fuelled the widespread rioting. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were tragically killed in the July 29 attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, which sparked the riots after online misinformation wrongly said it had been committed by a Muslim migrant. Channel3Now reported that the suspect was a '17-year-old asylum-seeker' called Ali al-Shakati, who allegedly arrived in the UK by boat in 2023 and it claimed he was on an MI6 watch list.
But the actual suspect was Axel Rudakubana, now 18, from Banks, Lancashire, who will stand trial next year after being charged with three counts o.