The LONG arm of the law: Pakistani web developer arrested in Lahore for 'spreading fake news that the Southport knifeman had arrived in the UK via boat and was on an MI6 watchlist'

The LONG arm of the law: Pakistani web developer arrested in Lahore for 'spreading fake news that the Southport knifeman had arrived in the UK via boat and was on an MI6 watchlist' By Miriam Kuepper Published: 20:40, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 20:42, 20 August 2024 e-mail A Pakistani web developer has been arrested in Lahore for allegedly spreading fake news that the Southport knifeman had arrived in the UK via boat and that he was on an MI6 watchlist. Farhan Asif allegedly worked for news aggregation website Channel3Now, which published false articles about the identity of the Southport stabber, ITV News reports. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were 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 allegedly was on an MI6 watch list. More than 50 police officers were injured as up to 1,000 people gathered outside a Southport mosque after the fake news over the identity of the suspect in the killings was shared online. Farhan Asif (pictured above as he is being confronted by journalists) allegedly worked for news aggregation website Channel3Now, which published false articles about the identity of the Southport stabber, ITV News reports Bebe King, six, was killed in .