No charge over spreading of Southport misinformation

A businesswoman who was arrested after sharing a fake name for the Southport attacker online will face no further action.

Bernadette Spofforth, from Chester, was arrested on 8 August after reposting the fake name, commenting that if it were true there would be “hell to pay”.

The 55-year-old, who has more than 50,000 followers, later deleted the post and apologised after realising the information was incorrect.

Cheshire Police did not name Ms Spofforth, but confirmed a 55-year-old woman from Chester would face no further action.

Ms Spofforth said her crime was “sharing a tweet which I deleted and apologised for sharing as soon I realised it contained inaccurate information”.

She said: “As has now been shown, the idea that one single tweet could be the catalyst for the riots which followed the atrocities in Southport is simply not true.”

Ms Spofforth, who regularly posts political comments on X on subjects including net zero, gender issues, the pandemic and freedom of speech, said despite “repeatedly insisting I’d done nothing illegal” police officers “dragged” her from her home and held her for 36 hours in a cell.

Ms Spofforth added: “What I’ve experienced over the past few weeks is nothing in comparison to the suffering of the tragic victims in Southport. And I’m not trying to compare the two.

“But I am just an ordinary person with ordinary opinions and I think it’s important that the public should know how ordinary people can be treated.

“The nightmare my family and I have lived through over the past month could happen to anyone. And in Britain in 2024 that’s unacceptable.”

Users including actor Laurence Fox and broadcasters Dan Wootton and Julia Hartley-Brewer all expressed support for her following the news that she would face no charges.

False claims were shared online about a 17-year-old charged over the murders in Southport in July of three girls Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King.

It was widely quoted in viral posts on X which wrongly suggested the attacker was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat last year.

Cheshire Police said: “A woman who was arrested in relation to an inaccurate social media post has been released without charge.

“The 55-year-old woman from near Chester was arrested on Thursday August 8 following allegations in relation to a social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders.

“Following a thorough investigation, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken due to insufficient evidence.”